Turnover intention and coronaphobia among frontline nurses during the second surge of COVID‐19: The mediating role of social support and coping skills

Abstract

Background: Turnover among frontline health care workers, particularly nurses, reached an alarming rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. This turnover has been attributed, in part, to excessive fear of the virus (a condition called coronaphobia). Studies have not yet been conducted examining whether social support and coping skills could act as buffers between coronaphobia and the intention to leave.Aim: To examine the relationship between coronaphobia and frontline nurses' organisational and professional turnover intention and to assess whether social support and coping skills can buffer this relationship.Methods: A correlational research design was used to collect responses through an online questionnaire from a convenience sample of 687 frontline nurses from the Central Philippines. Data were analyzed using descriptive (mean, standard deviation and percentages) and inferential statistics (t test, Pearson r correlation coefficient, ANOVA and multiple linear regression).Results: More than half of the frontline nurses experienced coronaphobia, while 25.8% reported a desire to leave their job and 20.7% reported a desire to leave their profession. Coronaphobia had direct significant effects on nurses' organisational (β = .424, p < .001) and professional turnover intention (β = .316, p < .001). Social support and coping skills partially mediated the relationship between organisational (β = .365, p < .001; β = .362, p < .001) and professional turnover intention (β = .279, p < .001; β = .289, p < .001). Conclusion:Frontline nurses who experienced coronaphobia were more likely to quit their job and the nursing profession. Increasing nurses' social support and enhancing their coping skills reduced the negative effects of coronaphobia, resulting in improved nurse retention.Implications for Nursing Management: Institutional approaches to reduce coronaphobia and turnover intention during the pandemic can be facilitated by improving social support through innovative approaches (e.g., use of technology and social media) and equipping nurses with positive coping skills through coping skills training and other empirically based coping skill-building interventions.

Factors Influencing Turnover Intention among Nurses and Midwives in Ghana

“…The prevalence rate in this present study is comparable to studies conducted in Saudi Arabia (94.0%) and Japan (74.1%) [ 22 , 23 ]. However, our 87.2% prevalence of turnover intention differs from the 20.7% reported in the Philippines [ 24 ] and 24.8% in Egypt [ 16 ].…”

A global overview of healthcare workers’ turnover intention amid COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review with future directions

“…A total of 12 studies revealed a positive correlation or association between fear of COVID-19 and turnover intention. Six quantitative studies used the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) as an instrument to measure the psychological impact of exposure to COVID-19 on HCWs [ 26 , 36 , 37 , 41 , 42 , 49 ], while one study used the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) [ 39 ], with all studies finding a positive correlation between fear of COVID-19 exposure and turnover intention. Two studies from Iran and the United Kingdom also found fear of COVID-19 exposure to be associated with turnover intention through qualitative results [ 64 , 66 ].…”

“…Social affiliation was also identified by some studies to impact turnover intention, as nurses with strong ties to friends and family perceived greater social support. Three studies determined that social support was able to act as a mediating factor in reducing turnover intention among nurses [ 31 , 39 , 68 ]. A direct correlation between social support and reduced turnover intention was also established by an Iranian study [ 51 ].…”

Relationship between psychological ownership of the nursing profession and turnover intention: A correlational survey among Taiwanese nurses

“…Hence, we chose not to include duties in this study. Regarding social support, as we already know that social support can reduce turnover intention (Fronda & Labrague, 2022), we chose not to duplicate the finding. Future studies could consider including these factors.…”