Nurses’ Perception of Organizational Support during COVID-19 Pandemic

Nawal A. Asiri (1)
Mona S. Alqahtani (1)
Mesfer M. Alqashanin (1)
Abdullah Mozher (1)
Aida S. Alqarni (2)
Lizy S. Benjamin (2)
Ossama A. Mostafa (3)

(1) Regional Nursing Administration, General Directorate of Health Affairs in Aseer, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia
(2) College of Nursing, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia
(3) Public Health Consultant, Training and Academic Affairs, General Directorate of Health Affairs in Aseer, Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia

Corresponding Author
Nawal A. Asiri
Email: nwalasiri@moh.gov.sa

Received: March 2022; Accepted: April 2022; Published: May 2022
Citation: Nawal A. Asiri et al. Nurses’s Perception of Organizational Support during COVID-19 Pandemic. Middle East Journal of Nursing 2022; 16(1): 3-11 DOI: 10.5742/MEJN2021.9378016

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ABSTRACT

Background: Nursing as a profession has been consistently challenging. As a result of the unstable conditions and continuous unpredictable changes in work environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses are experiencing twice the pressure than nurses who are recruited in normal circumstances. Organizational support is essential to assist nurses in reducing job-related stress.

Objective: To evaluate nurses’ perceived organizational support during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional design was followed in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia that included 288 nurses working in 13 governmental hospitals. A self-administered questionnaire was designed by the researchers (in both English and Arabic versions), which included sociodemographic characteristics and the COVID Organizational Support Scale.
Results: Most participant were Saudi (79.5%), females (91.3%), and aged 23-35 years (93.1%). About two-thirds of nurses (61.8%) had 1-2 years of work experience in Saudi Arabia. Most nurses (87.2%) had a Bachelor degree. Most participants dealt with COVID-19 patients and had previous experience with previous outbreaks (77.8% for both). The majority of nurses agreed regarding having access to appropriate personal protective equipment (75.3%), and getting tested for COVID-19 when they need to (70.8%). However, 90.3% of participants agreed that they are exposed to the risk of getting COVID-19 at work and they may take the virus home to their families, while 22.2% agreed that they have access to childcare during increased work hours and school closure, and 46.5% lack access to up-to-date information and communication from the healthcare system. Almost half of nurses (47.2%) perceived a poor organization support level, while 44.1% perceived good support level and only 8.7% perceived an excellent support level. Poor organizational support was most perceived by those aged 23-35 years (49.3%, p=0.044), while it was least perceived by female nurses (47.9%), non-Saudi nurses (50.8%), single nurses (48.8%), having no children (49.5%), with 1-2 years’ experience in Saudi Arabia (50%), with Bachelor degree (48.6%), who deal with COVID-19 patients (50%) and with no previous experience with previous outbreaks. However, apart from nurses’ age groups, differences in perceived organizational support according to nurses’ personal characteristics were not statistically significant.

Conclusions: Nurses’ perceived organizational support in Aseer Region during the COVID-19 pandemic is suboptimal. Therefore, training should be provided to nurses in order to handle and cope with the increased workload during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to mitigate any experienced exhaustion.

Key Words: Organizational Support; Nursing; COVID-19; Saudi Arabia.