Pediatric nurses’ perception of factors associated with caring self-effi cacy: A qualitative content analysis

Background: Nurses, who are considered to form the largest group of professional healthcare providers, face the challenge of maintaining, promoting, and providing quality nursing care and to prepare themselves to function confi dently and to care effectively. Among the factors affecting nursing performance, self-effi cacy has been expected to have the greatest infl uence. However, the concept of caring self-effi cacy was not considered and no research has been done in this fi eld in Iran. This study was conducted to explore and identify the factors described by pediatric nurses as related to caring self-effi cacy. Materials and Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted through content analysis in 2013 in Iran. Twenty-four participants were selected through purposive sampling method from pediatric nurses and educators. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis method. Results: The analysis of the interviews in this study led to the development of four main themes: (1) Professional knowledge of children caring, (2) experience, (3) caring motivation, and (4) effi cient educational system as the factors infl uencing caring self-effi cacy perception of pediatric nurses. Conclusions: This article presents the factors associated with the perception of caring self-effi cacy in pediatric nurses’ perspective. This fi nding can be used by nursing administrators and instructors, especially in the area of pediatric caring, to enhance nursing professional practice and the quality of pediatric caring.