THE IMPACT OF EMOTIONAL CONTAGION IN NURSES ON MISSED NURSING CARE: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Nurses encounter various situations in their work that can affect their emotional status, and they can contagion these emotions to others. These emotions experienced by nurses can influence nursing care. The study used a cross-sectional, descriptive, and correlational design to explore the impact of emotional contagion among nurses on unmissed nursing care. The research was conducted with 304 volunteer nurses through an online survey. Data were collected using a survey form consisting of a Demographic Information Form, Emotional Contagion Scale, and Missed Nursing Care Needs Scale. The data were analyzed by the researchers. The study revealed that nurses had a moderate level of emotional contagion. Differences in emotional contagion levels were found based on gender, age, educational level, type of institution, marital status, working hours, institutional experience, unit of work, and voluntary choice of job (p < 0.05). Additionally, the study showed that the level of missed nursing care among nurses was low. "Communication" was identified as the most significant factor causing missed nursing care. The level of missed nursing care varied according to gender, age, educational status, type of institution, professional and institutional experience, marital status, working hours, unit of work, and duration of employment (p < 0.05). Emotional contagion had a negative impact on the need for missed nursing care (β = -0.150, t = -2.636, R2 = 0.022, p < 0.05), its causes (β = -0.193, t = -3.411, R2 = 0.037, p < 0.05), especially workforce resources (β = -0.249, t = -4.470, R2 = 0.062, p < 0.05), and material resources (β = -0.271, t = -4.898, R2 = 0.074, p < 0.05). To reduce the level of missed nursing care, fostering positive emotions among nurses and promoting their transmission can be utilized as a strategy.