Professional quality of life and caring behaviours among clinical nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Aims and ObjectivesTo investigate the professional quality of life and caring behaviours among clinical nurses in Saudi Arabia during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We also examined the influence of the nurses’ socio‐demographic and professional characteristics on the professional quality of life. Moreover, the study examined the influence of professional quality of life on caring behaviour among the nurses amid the COVID‐19 pandemic.BackgroundCaring is the core of the nursing profession and considered the heart of the humanistic clinical nursing practice. However, the work nature of the clinical nurses, especially during the COVID‐19 pandemic, continues to challenge their professional quality of life and caring behaviours. The factors influencing the professional quality of life and caring behaviours of clinical nurses have not been extensively explored.DesignCross‐sectional, descriptive study.MethodsA purposive sample of 375 clinical nurses in three academic medical centres in Saudi Arabia were surveyed using the professional quality of life version 5 and the short‐form 24‐item Caring Behavior Inventory from May–August 2020. A standard multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the predictors of the professional quality of life and caring behaviour. This study adhered to the recommendations of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines.ResultsThe majority of the respondents reported average level of compassion satisfaction (57.9%), burnout (54.4%) and secondary traumatic stress (66.9%) in the professional quality of life domains. The result also showed highest degree of caring in terms of ‘assurance of human presence’ while lowest in the ‘knowledge and skills’ in four subscales of caring behaviour. The following variables significantly predicted compassion satisfaction: education, area of assignment and position. Age, education and religion were identified as significant predictors of burnout while religion, nationality and position were significant predictors of secondary traumatic stress. Positive and negative domains of professional quality of life influenced the caring behaviours among clinical nurses.ConclusionsBased on the results of the study, clinical nurses exhibited moderate level of professional quality of life and correlates to their caring behaviours. Moreover, clinical nurses’ demographic characteristics predicted their professional quality of life and caring behaviours.Relevance to clinical practiceThe importance of ensuring good professional quality of life and caring behaviour among clinical nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic is underscored. Nursing leaders can utilise this baseline evidence and apply programmes for clinical nurses to tackle professional quality of life issues and enhance caring behaviours.

The mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian critical care nurses

“…Pre-pandemic researchers have found a moderate to high degree of burnout and stress that impacted healthcare providers and CCNs’ ability to provide care (Sacco et al, 2020; Austin, Saylor, Finley, 2017; Mohammadi, Peyrovi, Mahmood, 2017; Monroe, Morse, Price, 2020). While our study reports higher episodes of burnout and secondary trauma symptoms than some other recent studies, the results are not unexpected when considering the work of CCNs in caring for COVID-19 patients ( Inocian et al, 2021 , Jiang et al, 2021 ). It is highly likely that the cumulative mental health toll influenced the CCNs intent to turnover.…”

Predictors of nursing students’ intention to receive COVID‐19 vaccination: A multi‐university study in Saudi Arabia

“…The COVID-19 pandemic remains a global concern affecting every aspect of life and cause fear and anxiety among people (Albaqawi et al, 2020;Inocian et al, 2021). In particular, it has challenged nurses as they act as frontline workers in managing patients infected with COVID-19.…”

Factors influencing nurses’ behavioral intention toward caring for COVID-19 patients on mechanical ventilation: A cross-sectional study

“…Compassion fatigue consists of two parts: burnout, which refers to exhaustion, frustration, anger, and depression, and secondary traumatic stress, which is a negative feeling driven by fear and work-related trauma [22]. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses, as the largest group of healthcare workers, nurses contacted patients firstly, directly, and continuously and they have suffered from many stressors, such as over workload, psychological stress, and ethical challenges [4,23].…”

“…Since the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses, as the largest group of healthcare workers, nurses contacted patients firstly, directly, and continuously and they have suffered from many stressors, such as over workload, psychological stress, and ethical challenges [4,23]. Compassion fatigue has been found to be a predictor of caring behaviors [22] and care quality [24]. Nevertheless, there has been a lack of studies attempting to investigate the relationship between compassion fatigue and nurses' behavioral intention toward caring for patients.…”