Succumbing to the COVID-19 Pandemic – Healthcare Workers not Satisfied and Intend to Leave Their Jobs (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Healthcare workers are under such a tremendous amount of pressure during the COVID-19 pandemic that many have become concerned about their jobs and even intend to leave them. It is paramount for healthcare workers to feel satisfied with their jobs and lives during a pandemic. OBJECTIVE This study aims to examine the predictors of job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS Between 10 to 30 April, 2020, 240 healthcare workers in Bolivia completed a cross-sectional online survey, which assessed their job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS The results revealed that their number of office days predicted job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention, but the relationships varied by their age. For example, healthcare workers’ office days negatively predicted job satisfaction for the young (e.g. at 25 years old: b=-0.21; 95% CI: -0.36 to -0.60) but positively predicted job satisfaction for the old (e.g. at 65 years old: b=0.25; 95% CI: 0.06 to 0.44). CONCLUSIONS These findings provide evidence to enable healthcare organizations to identify staff concerned about job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and turnover intention to enable early actions so that these staff can remain motivated to fight the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.