DUTY TO CARE AND JOB TURNOVER INTENTION IN THE POST-PANDEMIC NURSING WORKFORCE

Natural and human-made disasters are increasing in number and intensity. In 2020, approximately 688.3 million people required assistance from disaster response personnel. During a disaster or pandemic, nurses must weigh their personal and/or family safety against the ethical code of caring for others. The purpose of this convergent mixed-methods study was to examine duty to care and job turnover intention of registered nurses working in patient-facing roles. A convergent mixed method design was used to address research questions by employing the Nash Duty to Care Scale (NDCS) and the Turnover Intent Scale (TIS-6). Open-ended survey questions were used to explore insights into the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on duty to care and nurses’ job turnover intentions in the post-pandemic environment. Bivariate analysis indicated that mean scores reflecting Duty to Care did vary at a statistically significant level by Intention to Stay, t(89) = 4.35, p < .001, where study participants that indicated an intention to stay evidenced significantly higher mean Duty to Care score (M = 71.89, SD = 7.56) relative to those with an intention to leave (M = 64.25, SD = 9.18), t(89) = 4.35, p < .001, with a large effect size difference in magnitude (Cohen’s d =.91). Recommendations for research to help employers and educators prepare nurses to make appropriate ethical decisions in future situations that pose high personal risk concludes the research.