Factors Influencing Nurses’ Intention to Care for COVID-19 Patients

With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iran and considering that nurses were in a crisis, it is of particular importance to examine nurses’ intention to care for patients with COVID-19. If the intention to care is improved, the quality of care can also be affected; accordingly, this study is conducted to examine the relationship between the factors that influence the intention to care for patients with COVID-19.

This cross-sectional study was designed in 2020. The study population included 200 nurses who were directly involved in the care of COVID-19 patients in selected hospitals in Tehran City and Amol City, Iran. The demographic form and the Persian version of the nurses’ intention to care scale (P-NICS) questionnaire were used to measure the intention to care for patients with COVID-19.

Based on the results, factors, such as gender (β=0.15, P=0.02), positive behavioral beliefs (β=0.51, P<0.001), family subjective norms (β=0.43, P<0.001), work subjective norms (β=0.27, P<0.001), and positive control beliefs (β=0.21, P=0.002) had a significant and positive relationship to predict the intention to care. 

According to the findings, factors, such as behavioral beliefs, control, and social norms influence nurses’ intention to care for COVID-19 patients. Meanwhile, promoting the intention to care improves the quality of care; therefore, health care managers should pay attention to psychological and social factors that affect the intention to care in nurses.