Predictors of quality of life of nursing internship students from five Saudi universities

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the quality of life (QoL) of nursing internship students (NISs) and the predictive variables for the QoL of NISs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The correlates of QoL of NISs with their gender, age, prior nursing experience, and grade point average (GPA) from the previous semester are also assessed. METHODS: This study used a quantitative cross-sectional design through an electronic survey form for the collection of required data. The 22-item Quality of Life Evaluation Scale (QOLES) was adopted as the survey instrument. A total of 283 NISs from five public universities in KSA completed the survey. RESULTS: The students' age, gender, and nursing-related experience prior to their internship were all found to be significantly associated with the overall QOLES score (p values of 0.001, 0.001, and 0.01, respectively). The NISs GPA was found to be marginally significant (p = 0.08). A significant difference was identified in the overall QOLES score based on age (p = 0.02), gender (p = 0.02), and GPA (p = <0.001). Finally, as estimated by the regression analysis, only age (p = 0.002) was found to be a significant predictor of NISs’ QoL. CONCLUSION: In this study, the QoL of Saudi NISs was positively correlated with their age and gender. Male NISs had greater QoL than females, while a high QoL was observed among students with high GPAs before the internship year. Only the age of the NISs was found to be a reliable predictor of QoL.