The COVID-19 pandemic - A focus on nurse managers' mental health, coping behaviours and organisational commitment

Rebekkah Middleton; Clare Loveday; Cassandra Hobbs; Elham Almasi; Lorna Moxham; Heidi Green; Elizabeth Halcomb; Ritin Fernandez

doi:10.1016/j.colegn.2021.10.006

The COVID-19 pandemic - A focus on nurse managers' mental health, coping behaviours and organisational commitment

Collegian. 2021 Dec;28(6):703-708. doi: 10.1016/j.colegn.2021.10.006. Epub 2021 Oct 30.

Authors

Rebekkah Middleton^{1

2}, Clare Loveday³, Cassandra Hobbs⁴, Elham Almasi⁴, Lorna Moxham^{1

2}, Heidi Green³, Elizabeth Halcomb^{1

2}, Ritin Fernandez^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Nursing, Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health, University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
² Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute (IHMRI), University of Wollongong, Northfields Avenue, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia.
³ St. George Hospital, Gray St, Kogarah NSW 2217, Australia.
⁴ Sutherland Hospital, Kingsway & Kareena Rd, Caringbah NSW 2229, Australia.

Abstract

Background: The emergence of COVID-19 has substantially impacted frontline health care workers, including nurse managers. To date, no studies have been conducted to examine the impact COVID-19 has had on Nurse Managers' mental health, coping strategies and organisational commitment.

Aim: To investigate the mental health, coping behaviours, and organisational commitment among Nurse Managers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Cross-sectional study involving 59 Nursing Managers from one Local Health District in Sydney Australia during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected relating to demographics, anxiety, coping strategies and organisational commitment.

Results: Overall, approximately three quarters of the Nurse Managers had high anxiety scores. Managers who had worked longer as a nurse had higher scores for adaptive coping strategies and 41% of Nurse Managers considered leaving their jobs.

Conclusions: Strategies to minimise anxiety and enable coping as part of organisational disaster, emergency or crisis planning for Nurse Managers may result in decreased anxiety and stress levels, increased use of adaptive coping strategies and lower intent to leave the organisation and the nursing profession.

Keywords: Adaptation psychological; Anxiety; COVID-19; Job-related stress; Nurse administrators.