The Influence of Long-term Care Hospital Nurses' Nursing Professionalism and Knowledge of COVID-19 on Nursing Intentions for COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Purpose: This study attempted to identify the influence of long-term care hospital nurses' nursing professionalism and knowledge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on nursing intentions for COVID-19 patients.Methods: Data were collected from nurses who had worked for at least 6 months at long-term care hospitals with more than 100 beds located in North Gyeongsang Province from July 15 to 31, 2021. In total, 207 questionnaires were analyzed using the t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson correlation coefficients, and multiple linear regression with SPSS for Windows version 25.0.Results: Among the sub-factors constituting nursing professionalism, self-concept of the profession (r=.22, p=.001) and professionalism of nursing (r=.23, p=.001) were correlated with nursing intention for COVID-19 patients, whereas there no correlation was found between knowledge of COVID-19 and nursing intention for COVID-19 patients. In addition, among the sub-factors of nursing professionalism, the only factor influencing nursing intention for COVID-19 patients was professionalism of nursing, which could explain approximately 6.0% of variance in nursing intention for COVID-19 patients (β=.58, p=.049).Conclusion: It is important to strengthen professionalism of nursing among various aspects of nursing professionalism in order to improve long-term care hospital nurses’ nursing intention for COVID-19 patients.