Tabari Biomedical Student Research Journal

Background & Objectives: Job strain of nurses always causes impaired self-cars behaviors in nurses’ daily lives. Therefore, this study was performed with the aim of evaluating self-care behaviors in nurses.
Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 100 of nurses of Mazandaran Cardiac Center were selected through available sampling. For the purpose of data collection, a researcher-designed questionnaire was used which included two parts
(demographic information and the rate of self-care). The validity of this questionnaire was verified by 5 nursing professors and its reliability was confirmed by using 15 samples which rendered Cronbach's alpha of 0.88. Self-care section consisted of 34 questions about nutrition, physical activity, personal hygiene, social-psychosocial status, and belief status each of which was scored from 0 to 4. The scores were rated as following: 0-34=poor, 35-68=average, 69-103=good, and 104-136=excellent
status of self-care in people. Data analysis was performed by administering descriptive and inferential statistical tests using Spss version 16 software.
Results: The data analysis indicated that women constituted the majority of research units (89%). In this study, the best behavior was related to belief status and the worst self-care behavior was nutrition status of nurses. A significant correlation
was found between age, gender, marital status, employment history, BMI, salary , illness history, shift work, education, and the rate of self-care (P<0.05). The minimum obtained score was 46 and the maximum was 123 (out of 136). 17% of the
samples had an average rate of self-care, 70% of them enjoyed from good rate of self-care, and 13% had excellent self-care level (there were no cases with poor selfcare); and the mean score and standard deviation were 1.68±84.56. Hence, the level
of nurses' self-care was evaluated to be good.
Conclusion: Regarding the findings of this study, the rate of performing self-care behaviors in nurses (which are the main pillars of patient education) can be increased by enhancing knowledge about these behaviors and improving working conditions.