Investigation of the relationship between work-family conflict and the quality of nursing care among nurses working in the Covid-19 ward

Nurses, as the largest group of health care providers in pandemic COVID-19 face special occupational and familial challenges. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between work-family conflict and the quality of nursing care among nurses working in the COVID-19 ward of hospitals affiliated to Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.

In this descriptive-analytical study, 213 nurses of Covid-19 wards were entered by census sampeling from the beginning of March 2019 to the end of September 2020. Data were collected using the Carlson family-conflict inventory and the Quality Patient Care Scale (Qualpacs) Questionnaire, which were completed electronically by studied nurses.

The level of quality of nursing care was moderate (258.25±38.20) and the level of work-family conflict was high (32.03±7.08). There was a significant relationship between work-family conflict and the quality of nursing care, so that with increasing work-family conflict, the quality of nursing care decreased.

The results showed that the quality of nursing care of COVID-19 patients is related to the work-family conflict. In order to reduce the work-family conflict in nurses, it is necessary to reduce the working hours and workload of nurses and also to include training courses to balance the family and work life of nurses to increase the quality of nursing care for COVID-19 patients.