Predictors of quality of life of nursing internship students from five Saudi universities.

Objectives: This study investigated the quality of life (QoL) of nursing internship students (NISs) and the predictive variables for the QoL of NISs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The correlates of QoL of NISs with their gender, age, prior nursing experience, and grade point average (GPA) from the previous semester are also assessed.

Methods: This study used a quantitative cross-sectional design through an electronic survey form for the collection of required data. The 22-item Quality of Life Evaluation Scale (QOLES) was adopted as the survey instrument. A total of 283 NISs from five public universities in KSA completed the survey.

Results: The students' age, gender, and nursing-related experience prior to their internship were all found to be significantly associated with the overall QOLES score ( values of 0.001, 0.001, and 0.01, respectively). The NISs GPA was found to be marginally significant ( = 0.08). A significant difference was identified in the overall QOLES score based on age ( = 0.02), gender ( = 0.02), and GPA ( = <0.001). Finally, as estimated by the regression analysis, only age ( = 0.002) was found to be a significant predictor of NISs' QoL.

Conclusion: In this study, the QoL of Saudi NISs was positively correlated with their age and gender. Male NISs had greater QoL than females, while a high QoL was observed among students with high GPAs before the internship year. Only the age of the NISs was found to be a reliable predictor of QoL.