BACKGROUND: In the event of an epidemic outbreak, the mental health of medical staff, including nurses who serve on the frontlines of hospitals, can be affected; thus, the identification of factors affecting nurses’ mental health is of importance. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the association between moral distress and the mental health of nurses working at four selected hospitals in Iran during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on 296 nurses working at the selected hospitals in Bushehr and Shiraz (south of Iran) at the time of the COVID-19 outbreak. The collected data were analyzed via logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean scores for nurses’ moral distress were low (54.31±24.84). The results of this study indicated more symptoms of mental issues among nurses (73.60%). Moreover, a significant association was observed between mental health and moral distress. Among the examined demographic variables, only gender had a significant association with mental health (p-value = 0.014). CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that an increase in moral distress would lead to a significant increase in mental health issues of the examined nurses. Nurse managers and hospital policymakers should develop strategies to enhance nurses’ level of mental health, as well as providing adequate emotional and family support for nurses. Considering the intensifying role of gender in this association, timely interventions are necessary to reduce the negative effects of workplace pressure/stress on female nurses.

Background Nurses are at the forefront of providing health care services and their performance is largely determinant of the quality of health care. The purpose of this study was to investigate associations between professional self-concept and QWL among nurses from selected hospitals based in the cities of Bushehr and Shiraz (southern Iran), at the time of COVD-19 pandemic. Method: This study is designed as a cross-sectional study. A Web-based questionnaire assessing a demographic characteristic, the Work-Related Quality of life (WRQoL), and the Nurse Self-Concept (NSCQ) was distributed to a representative sample (n = 263) of nurses working in hospital wards for patients with COVID-19. Data were analyzed using multivariate linear regression at the significance level of 0.05. Results The mean scores of the NSCQ and the WRQoL Scale in nurses were respectively by 202.32 ± 38.19 and 68.81 ± 19.12. There was also a significantly direct relationship between PSC and QWL. PSC together with work location and working experience could thus explain 34.6% of the variance in QWL, which was 26.5% for PSC. Conclusion Considering the confirmation of the predictive role of nurses’ PSC in their QWL in terms of planning and designing interventions to boost their QWL, attention to internal factors such as PSC is of utmost importance.