Depression, Help-Seeking Attitude, Sleep Quality, and Missed Nursing Care Among Nurses in Korean Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose This study aimed to determine the moderating effects of help-seeking attitude and sleep quality on the relationship between depression and missed nursing care among nurses in Korean hospitals. Design This secondary analysis used a cross-sectional survey design. The study data were collected from 263 nurses in two Korean hospitals from 2018 to 2019. Methods The survey consisted of the MISSCARE Survey, Beck Depression Inventory-II, Attitudes Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help-Short Form, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Following the guidelines of Hayes, we used the SPSS PROCESS macro for testing the moderating effects of help-seeking attitude and sleep quality on the relationship between depression and missed nursing care. Findings Of the 263 study participants, 37.6% had mild depression. Depression was positively correlated with negative help-seeking attitude and poor sleep quality. Depression and sleep quality were positively associated with missed nursing care. The moderating effects of help-seeking attitude and poor sleep quality on the relationship between depression and missed nursing care were observed. The slope test revealed that depression with negative help-seeking attitude had a positive effect on missed nursing care. Furthermore, depression with good sleep quality had a positive effect on missed nursing care. Conclusions The findings suggest that efforts to enhance sleep quality and reduce depression by improving help-seeking attitude would be helpful to decrease missed nursing care among hospital nurses. Clinical Relevance Nurses' sleep quality, level of depression, and help-seeking behavior is crucial globally in delivering quality nursing care without omission. Healthcare institutions and nursing managers should implement evidence-based strategies to enhance nurses' help-seeking attitude and sleep quality to decrease the risk of depression and missed nursing care.