The Relationship among Religious Orientation, Health Anxiety, and Hope in Iranian Emergency Department Nurses

Emergency Department (ED) nurses experience high stress levels, which can lead to health anxiety. Understanding how religious orientation, hope, and health anxiety are related can help support these nurses. This study explores the connections between these factors in Iranian ED nurses.

A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 420 nurses from EDs affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences (2022-2023) using convenience sampling. Participants completed the Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI-18), Allport-Ross Religious Orientation Scale (ROS), and Herth Hope Index (HHI). Data analysis included Pearson correlation.

Religious orientation weakly correlated with health anxiety (r = 0.21, p < 0.001), while hope showed an inverse correlation (r = -0.23, p < 0.001). Intrinsic religious orientation was positively correlated with hope (r = 0.32, p < 0.001), but extrinsic orientation was not (p = 0.315). Neither intrinsic nor extrinsic orientations were independently associated with health anxiety.

The study found that ED nurses with a strong intrinsic religious orientation tend to have higher levels of hope, which is linked to lower health anxiety. However, the study's design does not allow for causal conclusions, and the correlations observed are moderate at best.

This study suggests that hope and intrinsic religiosity may be associated with lower health anxiety in emergency department nurses. Further research is needed to determine causality. Hospitals may benefit from promoting hopeful thinking and creating spiritually supportive environments to support staff well-being.