Purpose : This descriptive research study aimed to investigate the relationship among academic self-efficacy, sleep quality, and quality of life(QoL) and to identify the factors that affect quality of life(QoL) in nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Method : A total of 214 nursing students from three South Korean colleges were included in the study. Collected data were analyzed using the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. Independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance were used to analyze the differences in academic self-efficacy, sleep quality, and quality of life(QoL) according to general characteristics. In addition, post-hoc Scheffè test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used to examine the relationship among the three parameters. Stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify influential factors on the nursing students’ quality of life(QoL).
Results : The average academic self-efficacy, sleep quality, and quality of life(QoL) scores were 3.15±0.27, 32.28±7.54, and 81.12±13.11, respectively. Quality of life(QoL) positively correlated with academic self-efficacy but negatively correlated with sleep quality. Academic self-efficacy negatively correlated with sleep quality. Sleep quality, satisfaction with major, sex, average income, and academic self-efficacy influenced quality of life(QoL), whose explanatory power was 34.9 %.
Conclusion : Sleep quality was the most influential factor of quality of life(QoL). However, further studies to validate our findings and studies focusing on developing intervention programs to improve nursing students’ sleep quality and quality of life(QoL) are warranted.