Anxiety among nursing students during the Covid-19 pandemic: A web-based cross-sectional survey

Objective: The objective of this study was to assess levels of anxiety and ways of coping among nursing students in The School of Nursing, University of Riau during the COVID-19 Outbreak.

Method: This study was conducted among 247 students through the web-based cross-sectional survey.

Results: The findings show that more than one in three students 87 (35.3%) had mild to severe anxiety. Many students experienced anxiety when doing activities outside, having no use personal protection equipment (PPE), worrying about being infected if they have a cough, fever, or sore throat. The top three ways of coping to reduce student's anxiety are implemented healthy lifestyle behaviors (46.56%), staying at home and doing activities together with family (44.94%), and doing positive activities (22.67%).

Conclusions: The school should give attention to the mental health of students by providing psychological support to reduce student's anxiety.