Aim The aim of this work is to explore the influencing factors of nurses' caring behaviour during the COVID‐19 pandemic based on the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation as determinants of Behaviour (COM‐B) theoretical framework. Background Nurse caring behaviour is vital to reduce and speed up the healing process of COVID‐19 patients. It is important to understand the factors that influence caring behaviour among nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Research suggests that when it comes to understanding behaviour, using a theoretical framework is likely to be most effective, and the COM‐B framework is a recommended approach. Methods Semistructured interviews with 42 nurses working in 11 Chinese cities were conducted, and their verbatim statements were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The results were mapped to COM‐B framework. Results Ten key themes emerged: Capability (professional knowledge and skills, emotional intelligence, cross‐cultural care competence); opportunity (resources, organizational culture, social culture); motivation (past experience, character, role, beliefs). Conclusions Ten factors were found to influence nurses' caring behaviour. This study added two new influencing factors, social culture and past experiences, that further contributed to the understanding of nurses' care behaviours. Implications for Nursing Management Nurses' caring behaviour is influenced not only by themselves but also by institutions and society, so interventions aiming to improve their caring behaviour should consider these elements. The negative impact of the pandemic on capability factors that influence nurses' caring behaviour should be counteracted as soon as possible.

When facing an infectious disease disaster, nurses’ willingness to work is critical. Nurses’ lack of willingness to work during a pandemic may worsen the shortage of health care personnel. The purpose of this study is to assess the willingness of nurses to participate in the fight against COVID-19 in China and to identify factors associated therewith. This cross-sectional study examines nurses working in 11 Chinese cities including Macau, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai. Questionnaires were collected from 19 May to 7 August 2020. A total of 8065 questionnaires were received, of which 8030 valid questionnaires were included for analysis. A total of 53.4% of participants reported that they had signed up to support the COVID-19 pandemic response. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that being single (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.60–0.87), having no children (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68–0.97), possessing higher professional qualifications (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14–1.37), having a more prestigious professional title (OR = 1.68, 95%CI: 1.50–1.90), being an administrative supervisor (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.45–0.63), having a higher caring dimensions inventory score (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01–1.01), working in a hospital (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.39–0.72), and receiving employer-provided care training (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.68–0.87) were predictive of nurses’ willingness to participate in the fight against COVID-19. We suggest that unmarried nurses should be given priority when recruiting to fight an epidemic and, for married nurses with children who are recruited to fight an epidemic, supporting measures should be provided for childcare. We suggest strengthening workplace training of caring for nurses in order to better retain and recruit qualified support for an epidemic outbreak of infectious diseases.

Caring is central to nursing practice. Chinese nurses take care for the health of about 20% of the world’s population and their perception of caring is critical. However, until recently, instrument specifically designed to measure the caring of nurses in China was not found. Caring dimensions inventory (CDI) is one of the most frequently used instrument when measuring caring and is applicable to nurses from different cultures. The aim of this study is to test the validity and reliability of the Chinese version of the 25-item CDI. The English version of CDI was translated into Chinese according to the guidelines of the World Health Organization. Content validity was conducted among seven senior nurses from different institutions in different cities in China. A convenience sample of nurses from 11 cities in China was employed. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis of the CDI was carried out using a sample of 880 nurses. The overall content validity index was 0.98. Three factors (Nurturance, Collaboration, Skill) were identified in exploratory factor analysis and were confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The three-factor solution explains 70.15% of the total variance. The Cronbach alpha for overall the CDI was 0.97. This study demonstrated that the Chinese version of the CDI showed satisfactory reliability and validity, indicating that it could be a useful measurement to assess nurses’ perception of caring in China.