The mediating and moderating role of recovery experience between occupational stress and turnover intention in nurses caring for patients with COVID‐19

Abstract Aim This study aimed to investigate the relationships among occupational stress, recovery experience and turnover intention among nurses caring for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19). Background The high turnover intention among nurses affect patient safety quality of patient care. Design The cross‐sectional study design was used. This study was guided by STROBE. Methods Convenience sampling identified 202 registered nurses working in the COVID‐19 wards of three tertiary general hospitals in two cities in South Korea. The collected data were analysed using SPSS version 26.0, and the PROCESS macro in SPSS was employed to estimate path coefficients and assess the adequacy of the model. The moderating effects of recovery experience on the pathway in which occupational stress of the participants affects turnover intention were verified using model 1 of the SPSS PROCESS macro proposed by Hayes. Results The recovery experience did not significantly mediate the relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention. However, it had significant moderating effect on the relationship between occupational stress and turnover intention ( β = .005, 95% CI [.001, .010]). The effect of occupational stress on turnover intention was dependent on recovery experience. Conclusion The results revealed that occupational stress among nurses caring for patients with COVID‐19 affect the turnover intention and the level of recovery experience moderates this relationship. Thus, not only during the COVID‐19 pandemic but also during challenging times of various infectious disease outbreaks, hospitals can enhance the health and well‐being of nurses and promote the retention of nursing staff. Implications for the profession During the COVID‐19 pandemic, nurses have been exposed to understaffing and overwhelming workloads. However, policies for nurses' welfare and benefits are still insufficient, even as the pandemic comes to an end. The results of this study indicate that sufficient rest and appropriate nursing personnel are of utmost importance to nurses. Patient or Public Contribution No patient or public contribution.