Abstract
BACKGROUND: The nurse's first and most important responsibility is to protect themselves from contracting or spreading COVID-19. PURPOSE: Investigate the effect of applying clustering nursing care on spreading COVID-19 infection and fatigue level among nurses who provide nursing care for COVID-19 patients. METHODS: Retrospective case-control study, where cases had a COVID-19 infection in the previous six months and controls were free. Internet-based survey sent to nurses at eight hospitals. FINDINGS: A total of 100 cases and 250 controls. About 36.8% of nurses who did not apply clustering care suffered from COVID-19 infection. Meanwhile, 83.3% and 93.3% of those who clustered three and four procedures, were free of COVID-19 infection. DISCUSSION: Applying clustering for nurses' care decreases spreading of infection among nurses and decreases fatigue level related to work. Female nurses, increased fatigue, and a lack of training are all factors that may contribute to the spread of CVID-19 infection among nurses.