Fear of COVID-19, psychological distress, work satisfaction and turnover intention among front line nurses 

Abstract

Aim: To examine the relative influence of fear of COVID-19 on nurses’ psychological distress, work satisfaction and intent to leave their organisation and the profession. Background: The emergence of COVID-19 has significantly impacted the psychological and mental well-being of frontline healthcare workers, including nurses. To date, no studies have been conducted examining how this fear of COVID-19 contributes to health, well-being and work outcomes in frontline nurses.Methods: This is a cross-sectional research design involving 261 frontline nurses in the Philippines. Five standardised scales were used for data collection. Results: Overall, the composite score of the fear of COVID-19 scale was 19.92. Job role and attendance of COVID-19-related training predicted fear of COVID-19. An increased level of fear of COVID-19 was associated with decreased job satisfaction, increased psychological distress, and increased organisational and professional turnover intentions.Conclusions: Frontline nurses who reported not having attended COVID-19-related training and those who held part-time job roles reported increased fears of COVID-19. Addressing the fear of COVID-19 may result in improved job outcomes in frontline nurses, such as increased job satisfaction, decreased stress levels and lower intent to leave the organisation and the profession. Implications for Nursing Management: Organisational measures are vital to support the mental health of nurses and address their fear of COVID-19 through peer and social support, psychological and mental support services (e.g., counselling or psychotherapy), provision of training related to COVID-19, and accurate and regular information updates.

Impact of Fear of COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Nurses in Pakistan

“…As the findings of the current research as well as recent past studies (Labrague & De los Santos, 2020) show that excessive fear may severely affect mental health, leading to provoke anxiety and then finally affect their job outcomes (e.g., turnover intention, job performance, job satisfaction). Thus, hospital administrators must give due attention to the nurses, mental, emotional and psychological health.…”

“…To effectively manage such pandemic, well-planned work-related procedures and protocols should be in place, including sets of actions related to the disease outbreak such as guidelines about how to care affected patients, relevant training, safety practices, response plans and mutual collaboration with other units. As nurses are directly involved in dealing with COVID patients, they need to be aware of safety and workplace protocols and practice it in their work environment to perform better their services (Labrague & De los Santos, 2020;Labrague et al, 2018). The government of Pakistan initiates a considerable media campaign about awareness regarding workplace protocol to prepare the hospital administration as well as the general public for the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

Inadequate preparedness for response to COVID-19 is associated with stress and burnout among healthcare workers in Ghana

“…In contrast, increased appreciation from management and family support decreases stress and burnout. Inadequate preparedness may, therefore, have multiplicative effects through its association with stress and burnout, which may negatively affect HCW job satisfaction, productivity, quality of care, and workforce turnover [ 14 , 15 ]—outcomes that would impede Ghana’s progress in containing COVID-19.…”

“…Stress and burnout is also associated with poor health outcomes such as depression, cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality [ 12 , 13 ]. Moreover, HCW burnout is expensive for the health system given its associations with care quality, absenteeism, and workforce turnover, and is, thus, critical to examine [ 14 , 15 ].…”

Socioeconomic Impacts of the COVID-19 Lockdown on the Mental Health and Life Satisfaction of the Japanese Population

“…To evaluate well-being, we investigated only life satisfaction. Several studies have considered other aspects of well-being such as quality of life , hope (Yıldırım & Arslan, 2020), and work satisfaction (Labrague & De los Santos, 2020). Although our study was the first to investigate well-being during the current pandemic among the Japanese population, further studies are needed to reveal the influence of the pandemic on multiple aspects of psychological well-being in Japan.…”