Factors Affecting the Quality of Work Life of Nurses at Tertiary General Hospitals in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The prolonged coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused an overload of work for nurses and resulted in high levels of stress. Improving the quality of work life may be a useful mediator for these demands. The purpose of this study was to identify factors affecting work stress, turnover intention, mindfulness, and quality of work life in nurses working in tertiary general hospitals. The participants of this study were 207 female nurses working in tertiary general hospitals with more than six months of clinical experience. Data were collected using an online Google survey. Data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 26.0 program. The mean score for the quality of work life was 3.81 +/- 0.53 out of six points. The quality of work life was negatively correlated with job stress (r = -0.36, p < 0.001) and turnover intention (r = -0.45, p < 0.001) and positively correlated with mindfulness (r = 0.35, p < 0.001). Factors affecting quality of work life were work satisfaction (beta = 0.27, p = 0.004), job stress (beta = -0.23, p < 0.001), and turnover intention (beta = -0.18, p = 0.016). As a result, positive factors such as work satisfaction had stronger effects than negative factors. Thus, it would be necessary to seek strategies such as improving compensation for nurses, enhancing teamwork, or establishing a support system for managers, superiors, and colleagues.