Humanistic care quality of nurses in pediatric ICU: time for improvement

Abstract Background Humanistic care quality among nurses is of paramount importance in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). This study aims to systematically assess the current status of humanistic care quality among PICU nurses, identify its influencing factors, and provide empirical evidence to inform strategies for enhancing clinical nursing practice. Methods This study enrolled nurses from the PICU of a tertiary grade A hospital in China, between April 2025 and May 2025. Data collection was conducted using the Nursing Caring Characters Assessment Tool (NCCAT) through questionnaire surveys. To identify factors associated with the humanistic care quality of PICU nurses, correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were applied for statistical examination. Results A total of 242 PICU nurses were included in the study. The mean total score for humanistic care quality was 112.08 ± 17.35. Correlation analysis identified significant positive associations between humanistic care quality scores and age (Pearson r = 0.581, p = 0.017), gender (point-biserial r = 0.346, p = 0.043), highest educational attainment (point-biserial r = 0.595, p = 0.020), professional title (Spearman ρ = 0.544, p = 0.038), and having received humanistic care training (point-biserial r = 0.635, p = 0.002). Multiple linear regression showed these five factors were independent influencers of humanistic care quality: professional title (β = 0.245, p = 0.009), highest educational attainment (β = 0.169, p = 0.007), having received training (β = 0.121, p = 0.001), gender (β = 0.101, p = 0.012; interpreted with caution due to 94.21% female sample), and age (β = 0.095, p = 0.014). The model explained 59.2% of variance (R2 = 0.592, F = 24.118, p < 0.001). Conclusion The humanistic care quality of PICU nurses remains suboptimal and warrants further improvement. Clinical nursing administrators should formulate targeted interventions based on the identified influencing factors to enhance nurses’ humanistic care capabilities.