Factors Related to Nurses’ Professional Autonomy When Caring for Patients with COVID-19 in a University Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study
Table 1
Participant characteristics and association with the total score of professional autonomy when caring for patients with COVID-19 (n = 241).
Characteristics
Categories
n (%)/M ± SD
Average professional autonomy score ± SD when caring for patients with COVID-19
ρa
Age, years (four groups)
20–30
125 (51.9)
90.1 ± 13.6
0.100
0.122a
31–40
56 (23.2)
89.2 ± 15.8
41–50
35 (14.5)
92.7 ± 12.1
51–60
25 (10.4)
98.4 ± 16.9
Age, years (two groups)
20–40
181 (75.1)
89.8 ± 14.3
0.015b
41–60
60 (24.9)
95.1 ± 14.4
Sex
Male
16 (6.6)
93.3 ± 6.7
0.534b
Female
226 (93.4)
91.0 ± 14.9
Years of nursing experience
10.3 ± 9.2
0.163
0.011a
Position
Staff nurse
211 (87.6)
90.6 ± 14.5
0.093
0.152a
Assistant nurse manager
23 (9.5)
93.4 ± 11.4
Nurse manager
7 (2.9)
100.7 ± 19.6
Educational background
High school nursing course, 5 years
7 (2.9)
97.0 ± 15.2
−0.096
0.136a
Vocational nursing school, 3 years
51 (21.2)
95.1 ± 14.2
Junior college of nursing, 3 years
14 (5.8)
89.6 ± 13.9
University nursing course, 4 years
166 (68.9)
89.5 ± 14.2
Graduate school (Masters of Science)
3 (1.2)
106.0 ± 23.0
Stations
Internal medicine
50 (20.7)
88.9 ± 14.3
0.618c
Surgery
74 (30.7)
91.4 ± 11.4
Outpatient
28 (11.6)
90.9 ± 15.9
Other (including COVID-19 ward)
89 (36.9)
92.3 ± 16.4
Clinical ladder level
0
17 (7.1)
96.0 ± 21.0
0.152
0.018a
I
38 (15.8)
84.7 ± 12.5
II
66 (27.4)
90.3 ± 12.9
II
59 (24.5)
92.7 ± 15.7
IV
45 (18.7)
92.5 ± 12.2
V
16 (6.6)
95.5 ± 14.7
Having a certified nurse specialist or certified nurse qualifications
Yes
11 (4.6)
95.2 ± 12.8
0.341b
No
231 (95.4)
90.9 ± 14.6
Number of COVID-19 patients experienced
1–10
103 (42.7)
88.3 ± 14.0
0.176
0.006a
11–20
30 (12.4)
95.4 ± 13.6
21–30
16 (6.6)
88.1 ± 16.2
31–40
9 (3.7)
98.8 ± 12.6
41–50
13 (5.4)
95.1 ± 11.9
51–100
22 (9.1)
92.4 ± 11.5
≥101
37 (15.4)
93.8 ± 17.4
Missing data
11 (4.6)
Frequency of using scientific sources
Never
77 (32.0)
89.4 ± 14.8
0.073
0.260a
Once a year
12 (5.0)
90.3 ± 15.5
Once every 6 months
32 (13.3)
92.3 ± 12.7
Once every 3 months
31 (12.9)
90.2 ± 13.9
Once a month
42 (17.4)
92.7 ± 12.0
Once every 1–2 weeks
32 (13.3)
92.0 ± 19.0
More than once every 1–2 weeks
15 (6.2)
94.3 ± 13.9
Frequency of searching for latest information about COVID-19
Never
18 (7.5)
87.3 ± 14.4
0.082
0.203a
Once a year
4 (1.7)
93.2 ± 17.3
Once every 6 months
16 (6.6)
91.4 ± 13.3
Once every 3 months
28 (11.6)
87.7 ± 19.2
Once a month
58 (24.1)
91.6 ± 10.8
Once every 1–2 weeks
79 (32.8)
91.3 ± 12.9
More than once every 1–2 weeks
38 (15.8)
94.2 ± 19.4
Frequency of attending training/study sessions about COVID-19 at the hospital
Never
143 (59.3)
89.1 ± 13.8
0.150
0.020a
Once a year
55 (22.8)
95.1 ± 12.3
Once every 6 months
30 (12.4)
92.6 ± 18.3
Once every 3 months
8 (3.3)
99.3 ± 18.2
Once a month
4 (1.7)
82.7 ± 14.1
More than once every 1–2 weeks
1 (0.4)
84.0 ± 0.0
Total score of the basic knowledge of COVID-19
17.4 ± 1.4
−0.014
0.831a
aThe associations between the total score of nurses’ professional autonomy when caring for patients with COVID-19 and ordinal and continuous variables are assessed using Spearman’s correlation coefficients. bIndependent t-test. cAnalysis of variance.
