Professional Commitment and Its Associated Factors Among Nurses in Public Hospitals of East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

The commitment of nurses to their profession involves belief in professional values, commitment to its goals, willingness to exert effort, commitment to stay in the profession and handle its challenges. Lack of commitment hinders goal achievement and fosters indifference, leading to poor performance, turnover, and dissatisfaction. However, evidence on professional commitment and its associated factors among nurses in Ethiopia, especially in the study area, is limited.

The first objective was to determine the level of professional commitment, and the second was to identify its determinants among nurses in East Gojjam Zone, Northwest Ethiopia.

A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in 391 nurses using a simple random sample technique from November 1 to November 30, 2024. Data were collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire. After verifying its completeness, the data were entered and cleaned using EpiData version 4.2, and then exported to Statistical Package for Social Science version 27 for statistical analysis. Simple and multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted using a 95% confidence interval (CI) to identify predictors. A p-value < .05 was considered statistically significant.

In this study, a total of 381 individuals returned and completed the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 97.4%. The mean score of professional commitment of nurses was 33.47 ± 6.10 (95% CI [32.86, 34.08]). Perceived promotional opportunity (β = 0.655; [0.213-1.097]), affective organizational commitment (β = 0.299; [0.208-0.389]), work-life balance (β = 0.125; [0.049-0.201]), and normative organizational commitment (β = 0.359; [0.186-0.532]) were significant predictors of professional commitment.

This study revealed that the level of professional commitment of nurses was medium. Perceived promotional opportunity, affective organizational commitment, work-life balance, and normative organizational commitment were significant predictors of professional commitment. Therefore, providing better promotion opportunities, enhancing normative commitment, and enhancing work-life balance could increase nurses' commitment.