PERCEPTION OF CARING BEHAVIORS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG NURSES WORKING IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS OF EAST WOLLEGA ZONE, ETHIOPIA, 2023. MIXED METHOD STUDY

Takele Mitiku Tesema ^* Eba Abdisa Golja Lammi Atomsa yohannes Midekso Berisa

• College of Medical and Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia

The perception of nurse caring behaviors significantly impacts the patient 's satisfaction, trust, and health care experiences. Good perception is associated with positive outcomes. Nursing research has examined nurse's perception of caring behaviours and research shows low perceptions of caring behaviors globally. In Ethiopia, limited research exists on nurses' perceptions of caring behaviors and related aspects of the nurses. However further investigation including a mixed-methods study is needed to explore this topic and identify factors which affects nurse's perception of caring behaviours. Objective: To assess nurses' perception towards caring behaviors and associated factors among nurses working in Public Hospitals of East Wallaga Zone, 2023. Methods: A Facility-based Convergent mixed-method study was conducted from May 30 to July 30, 2023. Among Nurses in East Wollega Zone Public Hospitals, 394 study participants were selected by Simple random sampling technique for quantitative data and six ( 6) study participants were used for the qualitative data collection based on information saturation. Quantitative data was entered into Epi-data version 3.02 and analyzed by SPSS Version 25. In bi-variable analysis, candidate variables were selected for multivariable analysis model at a P < 0.25. In multi-variable logistic regression analysis, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% CI was used to assess the association of independent variables on the perception of nurse towards nursing care behavior. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. For qualitative data, narrative thematic analysis was used.