The Mediating Role of Mindfulness in the Relationship between Anxiety of Covid-19 and Quality of Professional Life in Nurses

COVID-19 has put unprecedented pressure on healthcare systems around the world and posed different challenges for nurses. The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of mindfulness in the relationship between corona anxiety and quality of professional life in nurses.

The present study was a descriptive correlational study and its statistical society consisted of all nurses working in public hospitals in Birjand (N = 550) in the period from April to June 2021. Research tools were distributed among 300 people. Convenience sampling method was used to select the sample. Professional quality of life scale, Corona disease anxiety scale and five-facet mindfulness questionnaire were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and SPSS-22 and Lisrel 8.8.

Out of 300 distributed questionnaires, 269 people answered the questionnaires completely. The mean and standard deviation of age were 32.54 and 7.85, respectively. The highest correlation was observed between the description and observation component of mindfulness (p <0.01) and the lowest correlation was observed between the burnout component of professional quality of life and physical anxiety (p <0.01).The results showed that the direct path of Corona anxiety to mindfulness (p<0.01), mindfulness to professional quality of life (p<0.01) and corona anxiety to professional quality of life (p<0.05) was significant. Furthermore, it was found that the indirect pathway between corona anxiety and professional quality of life is mediated by mindfulness (p<0.01).

The findings of this study supported the mediating role of mindfulness in the relationship between corona anxiety and professional quality of life. Therefore, it seems necessary to consider the role of these predictor variables by specialists, therapists, health care organizations and institutions when hiring, training, internships and retraining of nurses.