Misophonia Levels and Care Behaviours in Intensive Care Nurses: A Descriptive, Cross‐Sectional and Relational Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Misophonia is a condition that causes abnormal emotional reactions to certain environmental sounds. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between the responses of nurses working in intensive care units to these sounds and the care provided to the patient. METHODS: Personal Information Form, Misophonia Scale and Caring Behaviours Scale-24 were used to collect data. Mann Whitney U test and Kruskall Wallis test were used to analyse the data, and pearson correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between variables. The significance level was taken as p < 0.05. RESULTS: It was determined that the mean scores of the participants on the Caring Behaviours Scale-24 and the Misophonia Scale were moderate. A moderate negative correlation was found between the Caring Behaviours Scale-24 and the Misophonia Scale. CONCLUSIONS: In the light of the data we obtained from the study, it is possible to say that nurses exhibiting misophonic behaviours may be adversely affected by the sounds in the intensive care environment and this situation may negatively affect their care behaviours. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: Nurses with misophonic symptoms should be identified and their personal coping strategies should be strengthened. In this way, the quality of patient care and patient safety can be improved. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Descriptive and cross-sectional study. After obtaining the necessary permissions for the study, the researcher met with the intensive care nurses in the nurses' work environment, provided information about the study, and obtained written consent forms from those who volunteered to participate in the study. The relevant forms were delivered to the intensive care nurses in envelopes to be filled in and were returned in a sealed envelope at the end of the 2-day filling period. The study adhered to the STROBE checklist.