Reese P. Wood
Nursing Major
Health Sciences Category
Bio
My name is Reese Wood and I am graduating from the MSSU Nursing Program in May 2021. I am involved in the MSSU Honors Program, Phi Eta Sigma Honors Society, Order of Omega, Zeta Tau Alpha, Baptist Student Union, and I am the current Secretary for the Student Nurses Association. After graduation, I will be working in the Neuro Trauma ICU Department at CoxHealth in Springfield, Missouri. Since I am entering the field of nursing, I was so passionate to find how COVID-19 is affecting the current nursing staff in this area. I plan to bring my findings along with me as I enter the workforce. I also plan to continue to conduct research in order to keep my profession proactive and ensure patients are receiving quality care.
Abstract
This study analyzed whether nurses who are working primarily on COVID-19 units are experiencing increased stress, decreased workplace engagement, and decreased job satisfaction compared to nurses who do not work with COVID-19 patients. It has been found that a nurse with higher job satisfaction will provide a higher quality of care to their patients, which then affects patient satisfaction (Zahaj et. al., 2016). However, the correlation of COVID-19 affecting the current job satisfaction in nurses has not been studied. This research was done by surveying 60 nursing participants at Freeman Health System who were between the ages of 21-65. The cross-sectional survey was composed of questions from the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES), the McCloskey/Mueller Satisfaction Scale, and the Expanded Nursing Stress Scale. I predicted that the COVID unit nurses will have decreased workplace engagement and increased stress leading to decreased job satisfaction compared to nurses that work in other units. After using a multiple regression analysis, there was not a significant finding that concluded COVID nurses were experiencing lower job satisfaction or increased stress. However, a correlation to COVID nurses having lower satisfaction specifically in their salary and their sense of control and responsibility was found. This research added to the nursing literature and highlighted specific areas that the hospital examined can improve on to help prevent low job satisfaction in their staff, which could lead to decreased quality of patient care. My findings did conclude that nurses are resilient in their combat against COVID-19.