Factors Related to Nurses’ Professional Autonomy When Caring for Patients with COVID-19 in a University Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Table 4

Differences in nurses’ professional autonomy scores between caring for COVID-19 and other patients (n = 241).

Items	When caring for COVID-19 patients		When caring for other patients		Cohen’s d
	Mean ± SD	α	Mean ± SD	α
Factor 1: cognition	3.4 ± 0.5	0.85	3.8 ± 0.4	0.87	0.86	<0.001
I can predict the physical effects of the treatment on the patient	3.3 ± 0.8		3.9 ± 0.5		0.72	<0.001
I can predict future problems that may occur to the patient based on the course of events to date	3.2 ± 0.8		3.8 ± 0.6		0.70	<0.001
I can accurately identify changes in a patient’s general condition	3.2 ± 0.8		3.6 ± 0.6		0.64	<0.001
I can understand the relationship between a patient’s test results and symptoms	3.4 ± 0.7		3.8 ± 0.5		0.60	<0.001
I can fully understand the values of my patients	3.2 ± 0.8		3.5 ± 0.7		0.57	<0.001
I can understand the discrepancy between a patient’s verbal and emotional behavior	3.3 ± 0.8		3.6 ± 0.6		0.48	<0.001
I can predict the psychological impact of hospitalization and treatment on the patient	3.5 ± 0.8		3.9 ± 0.6		0.47	<0.001
I am able to gather the information needed for nursing care (patient’s personality, lifestyle, psychological problems he/she may have)	3.5 ± 0.8		3.9 ± 0.5		0.46	<0.001
I can show empathic understanding of the patient’s words and actions	3.7 ± 0.8		4.0 ± 0.6		0.43	<0.001
Factor 2: performance	3.5 ± 0.6	0.85	3.8 ± 0.5	0.84	0.62	<0.001
I am able to provide nursing care based on the patient’s distinctive characteristic of individual or social life	3.4 ± 0.7		3.8 ± 0.5		0.53	<0.001
I am able to prioritize and systematically carry out my nursing duties	3.7 ± 0.6		3.9 ± 0.5		0.52	<0.001
I can cooperate with other professionals	3.7 ± 0.7		4.2 ± 0.6		0.48	<0.001
I can allay a patient’s distrust and anxiety about medical care by providing sufficient explanation	3.3 ± 0.7		3.6 ± 0.6		0.46	<0.001
I am able to provide nursing care calmly in an emergency	3.1 ± 0.9		3.4 ± 0.8		0.45	<0.001
I can handle a patient’s emotions (anger, sadness)	3.4 ± 0.7		3.7 ± 0.6		0.38	<0.001
Factor 3: concrete judgment	3.4 ± 0.7	0.83	3.8 ± 0.6	0.85	0.61	<0.001
I can assess a patient’s condition from various information and choose nursing care that is appropriate for the patient’s needs	3.3 ± 0.7		3.7 ± 0.6		0.57	<0.001
I can perform nursing assessments and provide recommendations to achieve the highest quality of care	3.4 ± 0.7		3.8 ± 0.6		0.50	<0.001
I can respond to sudden physiological changes in the patient (hematemesis, loss of consciousness, hypotension, chills)	3.3 ± 0.9		3.6 ± 0.7		0.46	<0.001
I can prioritize a patient’s problem and clarify the most important problem among the many problems	3.5 ± 0.7		3.7 ± 0.6		0.42	<0.001
Factor 4: abstract judgment	3.2 ± 0.7	0.89	3.4 ± 0.6	0.86	0.50	<0.001
I can proactively present patient’s problems and lead to solve it at the medical meetings	3.2 ± 0.8		3.5 ± 0.7		0.46	<0.001
I can evaluate a patient’s symptoms and test results and select appropriate nursing methods	3.4 ± 0.7		3.7 ± 0.6		0.45	<0.001
I can make nursing decisions based on the medical situation without sufficient information	2.9 ± 0.8		3.1 ± 0.9		0.39	<0.001
I can plan nursing care using the nursing model and introduce it to my coworkers	3.2 ± 0.8		3.4 ± 0.7		0.34	<0.001
The nursing plan that I developed can be approved by my coworkers	3.4 ± 0.7		3.6 ± 0.7		0.32	<0.001
I can use the latest scientific evidence including nursing articles to decide on appropriate nursing	2.7 ± 0.9		2.9 ± 1.0		0.31	<0.001
Factor 5: basic nursing judgment	3.5 ± 0.7	0.83	3.7 ± 0.6	0.75	0.43	<0.001
I can choose nursing methods considering the patient’s needs	3.5 ± 0.7		3.8 ± 0.6		0.42	<0.001
I can choose appropriate nursing methods, regardless of the patient’s words and actions	3.4 ± 0.7		3.6 ± 0.6		0.33	<0.001
Total scores	91.1 ± 14.5	0.95	99.9 ± 11.8	0.94	0.78	<0.001

Paired t-test, α: Cronbach’s α coefficients. The items within each factor are arranged in descending order of Cohen’s d.