Perception of Caring Behaviors and Associated Factors Among Nurses Working in Harar Hospitals, Eastern Ethiopia

INTRODUCTION: Perception of caring behavior is very necessary to enhance human life, and the provision of health care, and is considered a basic key in the provision of healthcare facilities. Even though all nursing interventions are verified through nurse caring behaviors, poor perception of caring behaviors reduces the well-being of the patients. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess the perception of caring behaviors and associated factors among nurses working in Harar Hospitals, Eastern Ethiopia METHODS: An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 465 randomly selected nurses. Data were collected by using a pretested and structured self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics including frequency table, mean, standard deviation, and percentage were employed. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with the good perception of caring behaviors. Variables with a p-value of < .05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: This study revealed that the proportion of nurses who had a good perception of caring behaviors was found to be 63.4% (95% CI: 58.5–68.2%). High-level education (AOR = 2.98, 95% CI: 1.28–4.34), low workload (AOR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.16–3.05), satisfied with a job (AOR = 1.92, 95% CI: 1.42–4.01), good relation with coworkers (AOR = 4.56, 95% CI: 2.15–9.67) were significantly associated with a good perception of caring behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: This study reported that the proportion of nurses who had a good perception of caring behaviors was 63.4%. Educational level, workload, job satisfaction, and joint participation in the decision-making process were factors significantly associated with good perceptions of nurses caring behavior. Therefore, nurses caring behavior is enhanced by increasing educational levels, creating a conducive working environment, and making nursing active in the decision-making process to improve the perception of nurses toward nurses caring behavior.