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Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: Sick leave and turnover of nurses exacerbate an already existing nursing shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and other countries. Frequency and associated factors of sick leave and intention to quit among nurses need to be examined to maintain healthcare. Methods: An online...

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Autores principales: Schug, Caterina, Geiser, Franziska, Hiebel, Nina, Beschoner, Petra, Jerg-Bretzke, Lucia, Albus, Christian, Weidner, Kerstin, Morawa, Eva, Erim, Yesim
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8872054/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35206136
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19041947
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author Schug, Caterina
Geiser, Franziska
Hiebel, Nina
Beschoner, Petra
Jerg-Bretzke, Lucia
Albus, Christian
Weidner, Kerstin
Morawa, Eva
Erim, Yesim
author_facet Schug, Caterina
Geiser, Franziska
Hiebel, Nina
Beschoner, Petra
Jerg-Bretzke, Lucia
Albus, Christian
Weidner, Kerstin
Morawa, Eva
Erim, Yesim
author_sort Schug, Caterina
collection PubMed
description Background: Sick leave and turnover of nurses exacerbate an already existing nursing shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and other countries. Frequency and associated factors of sick leave and intention to quit among nurses need to be examined to maintain healthcare. Methods: An online survey among nursing staff (N = 757) in German hospitals was conducted between May and July 2021. Sick leave days, intention to quit, working conditions, depression, anxiety and sleep disorder symptoms, effort-reward imbalance (ERI), COVID-19-related and sociodemographic variables were measured. Regression analyses were performed. Results: The intention to quit was present in 18.9%. One third (32.5%) reported sick leave of ≥10 and 12.3% more than 25 days in 12 months. Significant predictors for ≥10 sick leave days were infection with SARS-CoV-2, a pre-existing illness, exhaustion, trust in colleagues and fear of becoming infected. Higher ERI reward levels, perception of sufficient staff and contact with infected patients were associated with lower odds for ≥10 sick leave days. Lower reward levels, having changed work departments during the pandemic, working part-time and higher depression levels significantly predicted turnover intention. Conclusion: Alarmingly, many nurses intend to quit working in healthcare. Perceived reward seems to buffer both sick leave and turnover intention. Enhancing protection from COVID-19 and reducing workload might also prevent sick leave. Depression prevention, improved change management and support of part-time workers could contribute to reducing turnover intention among nurses.
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spelling pubmed-88720542022-02-25 Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic Schug, Caterina Geiser, Franziska Hiebel, Nina Beschoner, Petra Jerg-Bretzke, Lucia Albus, Christian Weidner, Kerstin Morawa, Eva Erim, Yesim Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Background: Sick leave and turnover of nurses exacerbate an already existing nursing shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany and other countries. Frequency and associated factors of sick leave and intention to quit among nurses need to be examined to maintain healthcare. Methods: An online survey among nursing staff (N = 757) in German hospitals was conducted between May and July 2021. Sick leave days, intention to quit, working conditions, depression, anxiety and sleep disorder symptoms, effort-reward imbalance (ERI), COVID-19-related and sociodemographic variables were measured. Regression analyses were performed. Results: The intention to quit was present in 18.9%. One third (32.5%) reported sick leave of ≥10 and 12.3% more than 25 days in 12 months. Significant predictors for ≥10 sick leave days were infection with SARS-CoV-2, a pre-existing illness, exhaustion, trust in colleagues and fear of becoming infected. Higher ERI reward levels, perception of sufficient staff and contact with infected patients were associated with lower odds for ≥10 sick leave days. Lower reward levels, having changed work departments during the pandemic, working part-time and higher depression levels significantly predicted turnover intention. Conclusion: Alarmingly, many nurses intend to quit working in healthcare. Perceived reward seems to buffer both sick leave and turnover intention. Enhancing protection from COVID-19 and reducing workload might also prevent sick leave. Depression prevention, improved change management and support of part-time workers could contribute to reducing turnover intention among nurses. MDPI 2022-02-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8872054/ /pubmed/35206136 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19041947 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Schug, Caterina
Geiser, Franziska
Hiebel, Nina
Beschoner, Petra
Jerg-Bretzke, Lucia
Albus, Christian
Weidner, Kerstin
Morawa, Eva
Erim, Yesim
Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_fullStr Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_short Sick Leave and Intention to Quit the Job among Nursing Staff in German Hospitals during the COVID-19 Pandemic
title_sort sick leave and intention to quit the job among nursing staff in german hospitals during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8872054/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35206136
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19041947
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