Abstract
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.
Date of publication
Spring 2025
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
english
Persistent identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/4816
Committee members
Jenifer Chilton, Danita Alfred, Charleen McNeill
Degree
Doctorate of Philosophy Nursing
Recommended Citation
Lopez, Cathleen A., "DUTY TO CARE AND JOB TURNOVER INTENTION IN THE POST-PANDEMIC NURSING WORKFORCE" (2025). Nursing Theses and Dissertations. Paper 146.
http://hdl.handle.net/10950/4816
