The Relationship between Assertiveness and Health Caring Behaviors of Nurses in The Intensive Care Units of The Armed Forces Hospitals in Tehran, Iran

One of the most sensitive wards of the hospital is the intensive care unit (ICU) in which nurses' caring behaviors are of special importance due to the complex and critical conditions of patients. In these circumstances, assertive behavior is considered one of the important components of the professional healthcare activities of nurses. The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between assertiveness and health caring behaviors of nurses working in ICU.

This is a cross-sectional study (descriptive-correlation). The study population consisted of 165 nurses in ICU wards of military hospitals in Tehran, Iran in 2020. Sampling was done randomly. The research instruments included The Caring Dimension Inventory (CDI-25) and Gambrill and Ritchie (1975) Assertiveness Questionnaires.

The mean age of nurses in ICU was 33.7±7.2 years old and 56.4% were male. The married nurses significantly behave more assertively (P=0.028). The results showed that 96.4% of nurses have a moderate level of assertiveness. Also, the assertive behavior was able to explain 4.7% of the variance of health caring behaviors (β=0.068, P=0.005).

This study shows that the Iranian nurses working in ICU in the Armed Forces hospitals have a moderate level of assertiveness that affect their health caring behaviors. These findings are important because military nurses, in addition to the required nursing skills, must be prepared to work in hazardous or stressful situations of war and crisis. Therefore, training programs are needed to increase the assertive behavior of nurses working in ICU.