Nomophobia and the Connection Anxiety Phenomenon: A Qualitative Study among Nurses

Introduction: Nomophobia, a form of behavioral addiction, is uncontrolled, obsessive fear of being disconnected from the mobile phone network. Excessive use of smartphone during care, a source of errors and distractions, is among the top ten risks related to the use of technologies in healthcare. The study aims to investigate the phenomenon of nomophobia among nurses. Materials and Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was carried out by means of proactive sampling, nurses involved in hospital care on the Italian country were enrolled. Following the carrying out of semi-structured interviews electronically and at the same time audio recorded the data were analyzed according to qualitative content analysis. Results: The following themes emerged: ‘’Fear of not being able to manage cell phone addiction’’, ‘’Communication problems caused by cell phone use,’’, ‘’Physical consequences of cell phone use,’’ ‘’Loneliness in virtual life’’, ‘’Risk of infection related to cell phone use’’. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of monitoring the phenomenon, adopting information and awareness-raising policies aimed at healthcare personnel: distracting factors associated with the over-use of smartphones in the workplace make nurses more vulnerable and more exposed to the risk of error.