The relationship between professional self-concept and work-related quality of life of nurses working in the wards of patients with COVID-19

Background Nurses are at the forefront of providing health care services and their performance is largely determinant of the quality of health care. This study aims to investigate associations between professional self-concept (PSC) and WRQoL among nurses from selected hospitals in Bushehr and Shiraz cities (south of Iran), during the period of COVD-19 pandemic. Method This study is designed as a cross-sectional study. Available sampling was performed among active nurses in the care wards of patients with Covid-19 in public hospitals in Bushehr and Shiraz. Data were collected using demographic information form, along with the work-related quality of life and professional self-concept questionnaires. SPSS software and univariate and multivariate linear regression statistical methods with a significance level of 0.05 were used to analyze the data. Results The mean scores of the PSC and the WRQoL Scale in nurses were respectively 202.32 +/- 38.19 and 68.81 +/- 19.12. There was also a significant direct relationship between PSC and WRQoL. PSC together with work location and working experience could thus explain 34.6% of the variance in WRQoL, which was 26.5% for PSC. Conclusion Considering the confirmation of the predictive role of nurses' PSC in their WRQoL in terms of planning and designing interventions to boost their WRQoL, attention to internal factors such as PSC is of utmost importance.

Automated summary

This study investigated the association between professional self-concept (PSC) and Work-Related Quality of Life (WRQoL) among nurses in selected hospitals in Bushehr and Shiraz cities during the COVID-19 pandemic in the south of Iran. Results showed a significant direct relationship between PSC and WRQoL, with PSC, work location, and working experience explaining 34.6% of the variance in WRQoL.