Healthcare providers' intention to leave their jobs during COVID‐19 pandemic: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

Background and Aims During the coronavirus pandemic (COVID‐19), healthcare providers confronted risks of disease transmission to themselves and their family members, resulting in physical and psychological burdens. This might affect their decisions to leave their jobs temporarily or permanently, fearing infection and protecting their families. This study examined the factors related to the intention to leave a job among healthcare providers during the COVID‐19 pandemic in Jordan. Methods A cross‐sectional correlational design was used to collect data using a convenience sample of 557 healthcare providers working in different sectors across Jordan. Data were collected using a self‐administered questionnaire about the intention to leave jobs during the pandemic. Results The sample included 368 females (63.8%) and 209 males (36.6%) participants. The mean age of participants was 30.8 years (SD = 6.65). Differences found in intention to leave job during COVID‐19 in relation to age ( t = 2.60, p < 0.05), gender ( X 2 = 4.25, p < 0.001), and marital status ( X 2 = 18.2, p < 0.001). Participants with a high risk of exposure to COVID‐19 and who experienced higher workloads had higher scores of intention to leave their job during COVID‐19, while being married had lower scores. Conclusions Policy‐makers need to pay attention to young and single healthcare providers during the COVID‐19 pandemic to prevent them leave their job. Crucial guidelines for managing workload during the COVID‐19 pandemic are needed. Policy‐makers during pandemics have to protect healthcare providers who feel they are at high risk of infection.

Healthcare adjustments and concerns: a qualitative study exploring the perspectives of healthcare providers and administrative staff during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia

“…The final decision was to change their working hours per day to ensure the effective management of the cases. Our findings are strengthened by studies, which concluded that more efficient results can be achieved through teamwork in healthcare and can prevent healthcare providers' voluntary turnover intention ( 63 , 64 ). Another study also supports our results, indicating that health personnel rotations and shift schedules are efficient strategies for optimum patient care ( 44 ).…”

Determinants of intention to leave among nurses and physicians in a hospital setting during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Among other things, multiple studies showed turnover intention was correlated with the fear of COVID-19 [ 77 , 107 , 112 , 116 , 127 ] or coronaphobia [ 88 ]. Alnaeem et al(2022) showed that the belief that nurses and physicians could die from COVID-19 more than from cancer was a predictive factor in considering leaving the job [ 112 ]. The same was found in taking care of confirmed or suspected COVID-19 patients [ 83 , 87 , 111 ] and for perceiving high risk of COVID-19 [ 83 ].…”

“…Higher perceived organisational support showed decreased intention to leave in nurses and physicians [ 83 , 85 , 86 , 93 , 108 , 129 ]. At the same time, less appreciation of the organization is predicted, taking into consideration leaving the job [ 112 ]. Further, having supervisor support is a protective factor for turnover intention [ 89 ].…”

Attitudes and experiences related to the deaths of COVID‐19 patients among nursing staff: A qualitative evidence synthesis

“…These results coincide with those of other studies, where nurses discuss their desire to leave the field due to organizational and personal factors, such as from fear of infecting their family or the lack of PPE (Chen et al, 2021; Mosheva et al, 2021; Mota Romero et al, 2022; Poon et al, 2022; Varasteh et al, 2022). Other studies show that the nurses who have been most impacted by the pandemic tend to want to leave the profession more than those who have been less affected and at higher rates than pre‐pandemic (Alnaeem et al, 2022; Chen et al, 2021; Raso et al, 2021; Varasteh et al, 2022). Furthermore, the avoidance of COVID‐19 patients and other negative coping behaviours such as forgetting patients, have been identified among nursing staff after caring for COVID‐19 patients (Nie et al, 2020; Puente‐Fernández et al, 2020).…”