Psychological Well-being, Perceived Health Status, and Health Promoting Behavior of Clinical Nurses

Abstract

Purpose: This study was designed to assess the degree of psychological well-being, perceived health status, and health promoting behavior of clinical nurses, and to identify correlations between variables. Methods: Participants were 194 nurses working at S hospital, Seoul and data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, Duncan's test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multiple regressions. Results: Mean scores were 3.45 (5 point scale) for psychological well-being, 2.82(4 point scale) for perceived health status, and 2.30(4 point scale) for health promoting behavior. Psychological well-being correlated positively with perceived health status (r=.34, p<.001). Perceived health status showed a positive correlation with health promoting behavior (r=.30, p<.001). There was a positive correlation between psychological well-being and health promoting behavior (r=.52, p<.001). Personal growth(t=2.85, p=.005), purpose in life (t=2.30, p=.023) among subscales of psychological well-being, and perceived health status (t=2.13, p=.034) had a significant influence on health promoting behavior. These combinations explained 32.1% of health promoting behavior (F=12.58, p<.001). Conclusion: The results of this study suggest strategies to improve health promoting behavior by enhancing psychological well-being of nurses. Furthermore, a study to identify the effects of developed and applied psychological well-being promotion program should be conducted.