Turnover of healthcare professionals' is a rapidly growing human resource issue that affects healthcare systems. During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals have faced stressful situations that have negatively impacted their psychological health. In this study, we explored impacts of the emotional wellbeing of healthcare professionals on their intention to quit their jobs. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study. The respondents were selected based on simple random sampling. In total, 345 questionaries were returned and used for the analysis. Respondents were healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors, midwives, technicians, etc.) working in a pandemic hospital in Turkey. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to predict the emotions that encouraged the respondents to intend to quit their jobs. Emotions including anxiety, burnout, and depression were measured using validated scales. We found that the COVID-19 situation increased the turnover intention, especially among doctors and nurses (ORnurse/midwife = 22.28 (2.78-41.25), p = 0.01; ORdoctors = 18.13 (2.22-2.27), p = 0.01) mediating the emotional pressure it was putting them under. Anxiety related to work-pressure and burnout especially were the main emotional predictors of turnover intention. The more severe the anxiety was, the more the professional considered quitting (ORmoderate = 18.96 (6.75-137.69), p = 0.005; ORsevere = 37.94 (2.46-107.40), p = 0.016). Only severe burnout, however, engendered such an intention among them (ORsevere = 13.05 (1.10-33.48), p = 0.000).
Keywords: COVID-19; Turkey; anxiety; burnout; depression; healthcare; psychological health; turnover.