The investigation of intentional behavior of hospital staff to care for COVID-19 patients and the study of the factors that influences it.
This is a cross-sectional study, of 261 physicians and nurses working in a COVID-19 reference hospital. Data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire including demographic and professional characteristics and a scale measuring behavioral intention based on the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 21.
Mean age of participants was 40.8 years old, while most of them were nurses (75.7%). Behavioral intention mean score was 18.2 (5–21), which shows high intention to care for COVID-19 patients. Bivariate analysis between independent variables showed that behavioral intention mean score was higher for those that had cared for COVID-19 patients and those that did not (19.0% vs. 16.7%, p < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis identified that increased subjective norms (the perceived social pressure to perform or not the behavior) score was associated with increased behavioral intention score (p < 0.001). Also, participants that provided care for COVID-19 patients had higher behavioral intention score (p < 0.001).
Healthcare staff, that cared for COVID-19 patients had high behavioral intention to continue caring for them. This finding could be used to inform policies and training for staff that will be employed in COVID-19 units.
Citation: Theodoros Pesiridis, Petros Galanis, Eleni Anagnostopoulou, Athena Kalokerinou, Panayota Sourtzi. Providing care to patients with COVID-19 in a reference hospital: health care staff intentional behavior and factors that affect it[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2021, 8(3): 456-466. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2021035
The investigation of intentional behavior of hospital staff to care for COVID-19 patients and the study of the factors that influences it.
This is a cross-sectional study, of 261 physicians and nurses working in a COVID-19 reference hospital. Data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire including demographic and professional characteristics and a scale measuring behavioral intention based on the Theory of Planned Behavior of Ajzen. Statistical analysis was performed by SPSS 21.
Mean age of participants was 40.8 years old, while most of them were nurses (75.7%). Behavioral intention mean score was 18.2 (5–21), which shows high intention to care for COVID-19 patients. Bivariate analysis between independent variables showed that behavioral intention mean score was higher for those that had cared for COVID-19 patients and those that did not (19.0% vs. 16.7%, p < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis identified that increased subjective norms (the perceived social pressure to perform or not the behavior) score was associated with increased behavioral intention score (p < 0.001). Also, participants that provided care for COVID-19 patients had higher behavioral intention score (p < 0.001).
Healthcare staff, that cared for COVID-19 patients had high behavioral intention to continue caring for them. This finding could be used to inform policies and training for staff that will be employed in COVID-19 units.
[1] | Alwidyan MT, Trainor JE, Bissell RA (2020) Responding to natural disasters vs. disease outbreaks: Do emergency medical service providers have different views? Int J Disaster Risk Reduct 44: 101440. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2019.101440 |
[2] | Gagliano A, Villani PG, Co' FM, et al. (2020) COVID-19 Epidemic in the Middle Province of Northern Italy: Impact, Logistics, and Strategy in the First Line Hospital. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 14: 372-376. doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.51 |
[3] | Liu Y, Wang H, Chen J, et al. (2020) Emergency management of nursing human resources and supplies to respond to coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic. Int J Nurs Sci 7: 135-138. |
[4] | Martin SD, Brown LM, Reid WM (2013) Predictors of Nurses' Intentions to Work During the 2009 Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic. AJN 113: 24-31. doi: 10.1097/01.NAJ.0000438865.22036.15 |
[5] | Jovanović A, Klimek P, Renn O, et al. (2020) Assessing resilience of healthcare infrastructure exposed to COVID-19: emerging risks, resilience indicators, interdependencies and international standards. Environ Syst Decis 4: 1-35. |
[6] | Labrague LJ, Hammad K, Gloe DS, et al. (2018) Disaster preparedness among nurses: a systematic review of literature. Int Nurs Rev 65: 41-53. doi: 10.1111/inr.12369 |
[7] | Devnani M (2012) Factors associated with the willingness of health care personnel to work during an influenza public health emergency: an integrative review. Prehosp Disaster Med 27: 551-566. doi: 10.1017/S1049023X12001331 |
[8] | Ogedegbe C, Nyirenda T, Delmoro G, et al. (2012) Health care workers and disaster preparedness: barriers to and facilitators of willingness to respond. Int J Emerg Med 5: 29. doi: 10.1186/1865-1380-5-29 |
[9] | Ejeta LT, Ardalan A, Paton D (2015) Application of Behavioral Theories to Disaster and Emergency Health Preparedness: A Systematic Review. PLoS Curr 7. |
[10] | Ajzen I (1991) The theory of planned behavior. Organ Behav Hum Dec 50: 179-211. doi: 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T |
[11] | Ko NY, Feng MC, Chiu DY, et al. (2004) Applying theory of planned behavior to predict nurses' intention and volunteering to care for SARS patients in southern Taiwan. Kaohsiung J Med Sci 20: 389-398. doi: 10.1016/S1607-551X(09)70175-5 |
[12] | Veenema TG, Walden B, Feinstein N, et al. (2008) Factors Affecting Hospital-based Nurses' Willingness to Respond to a Radiation Emergency. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2: 224-229. doi: 10.1097/DMP.0b013e31818a2b7a |
[13] | Grimes D, Mendias E (2010) Nurses' intentions to respond to bioterrorism and other infectious disease emergencies. Nurs Outlook 58: 10-16. doi: 10.1016/j.outlook.2009.07.002 |
[14] | Goodhue C, Burke R, Ferrer R, et al. (2012) Willingness to Respond in a Disaster: A Pediatric Nurse Practitioner National Survey. J Pediatr Health Care 26: 7-20. doi: 10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.11.003 |
[15] | Pesiridis T, Sourtzi P, Galanis P, et al. (2015) Development, implementation and evaluation of a disaster training programme for nurses: A Switching Replications randomized controlled trial. Nurse Educ Pract 15: 63-67. doi: 10.1016/j.nepr.2014.02.001 |
[16] | Francis J, Eccles M, Johnston M, et al. (2004) Constructing questionnaires based on the theory of planned behavior a manual for health services researchers Available from: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/1735/. |
[17] | Pesiridis T, Sourtzi P, Galanis P, et al. (2013) Investigating the Knowledge of Nurses and their Influencing Factors in Disaster Relief. Nursing 52: 253-260. |
[18] | Papagiannis D, Malli F, Raptis DG, et al. (2020) Assessment of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards New Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) of Health Care Professionals in Greece before the Outbreak Period. Int J Environ Res Public Health 17: 4925. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17144925 |
[19] | Seale H, Leask J, Po K, et al. (2009) “Will they just pack up and leave?”—attitudes and intended behaviour of hospital health care workers during an influenza pandemic. BMC Health Serv Res 9: 30. doi: 10.1186/1472-6963-9-30 |
[20] | Kim CJ, Yoo HR, Yoo MS, et al. (2006) Attitude, beliefs, and intentions to care for SARS patients among Korean clinical nurses: an application of theory of planned behavior. Taehan Kanho Hakhoe Chi 36: 596-603. |
[21] | Aoyagi Y, Beck CR, Dingwall R, et al. (2015) Healthcare workers' willingness to work during an influenza pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Influenza Other Respir Viruses 9: 120-130. doi: 10.1111/irv.12310 |
[22] | Oh N, Hong N, Ryu DH, et al. (2017) Exploring Nursing Intention, Stress, and Professionalism in Response to Infectious Disease Emergencies: The Experience of Local Public Hospital Nurses During the 2015 MERS Outbreak in South Korea. Asian Nurs Res (Korean Soc Nurs Sci) 11: 230-236. |
[23] | Shapira S, Friger M, Bar-Dayan Y, et al. (2019) Healthcare workers' willingness to respond following a disaster: a novel statistical approach toward data analysis. BMC Med Educ 19: 130. doi: 10.1186/s12909-019-1561-7 |