Nursing work intention, stress, and professionalism in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Professionalism, stress and demographic factors are the three key influences in nurses' intention to provide care. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the levels of work intention, stress and professionalism of nurses and determine the relationship between nursing work intention and factors in response to COVID-19. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 362 nurses from COVID-19-devoted hospitals in Iran. A selfadministered electronic-based questionnaire was developed and used to determine levels of stress, professionalism, and nursing intention. Multiple regression analysis was carried out to analyze the correlation between nursing intention with respect to stress and professionalism. RESULTS: The overall stress, professionalism, and nursing intention scores were 48.56, 21.46, and 17.83 respectively. There were significant differences in nursing intention scores between gender, marital status, and having training groups (p < 0.05). The regression analysis revealed that nursing intention had a significant relationship with older age (p < 0.001,S.E = 1.11,B = 17.02), higher income level (p < 0.001,S.E = 1.81,B = 6.98), having previous training (p = 0.008, S.E = 1.22,B = 3.27), higher stress level (p < 0.001,S.E = 2.37,B = -21.39), and high professionalism level (p < 0.001, S.E = 1.16,B = 11.99). CONCLUSION: Having an adequate staff requirement plan, planning appropriate training for nurses, and proactive psychological support are crucial to prevent burnout and continue to provide nursing services.