Abstract:

Objective: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the educator role of nurses and the emotional labor behavior that they exhibit while providing care have gained more importance. This research aimed to examine the relationship between nurses’ views on their educator role and emotional labor behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This is descriptive and correlational research. The research sample included 336 nurses working in pandemic hospitals on the European side of Istanbul in Turkey. The research data were collected using an information form and the Emotional Labor Behavior Scale for Nurses (ELBSN) and were analyzed using the SPSS-22 software program. The arithmetic mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, and median values of continuous variables, as well as the frequency and percentages of categoric variables were calculated. In addition, the independent groups’ t-test, one-way variance analysis, and the Pearson correlation coefficient were used for the analysis. The results were evaluated at the 95% confidence interval at a p < 0.05 significance level. Results: The research found that nurses exhibited highly emotional labor behavior (3.88±.72) and they had a positive view regarding their educator role (7.42±1.80). In addition, there was a weak, positive, and statistically significant relationship between the nurses’ emotional labor behavior while doing their work and their educator role during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: While nurses’ attempt to carry out educator roles increases, their emotional behavior increases as well.