Abstract
Employees at healthcare organizations are experiencing more stress than ever given the current COVID-19 pandemic. Different types of stress are affecting diverse organizational outcomes, including the employees’ voluntary turnover. This is the case of cognitive stress, a type of stress that affects how individuals process information, which can influence employees’ turnover intentions. In this study, we look at the mechanisms that can reduce the adverse effects of cognitive stress on turnover intentions, particularly the role of employees’ perceived psychological safety (i.e., how safe they perceive the interactions with their colleagues are). We hypothesize that psychological safety mediates the relationship between cognitive stress and turnover intentions, and COVID-19 worry and supervisor support moderate the relationship between cognitive stress and psychological safety. To test our hypothesis, we invited two public health care organizations in Chile to join this study. In total, we obtained a sample of 146 employees in 21 different teams. Using a multilevel model, we found that psychological safety prevents the harmful effects of cognitive stress on employees’ turnover intentions. In addition, while COVID-19 worry can worsen the relationship between cognitive stress and psychological safety, supervisor support only directly affects psychological safety. This study contributes to expanding the stress and psychological safety literature and informs practitioners in healthcare organizations about how to deal with cognitive stress in the “new normality” that the pandemic has brought.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed health professionals all over the world in an unprecedented situation, working under extreme pressures, both physically and psychologically (Greenberg et al, 2020; Howe et al, 2020)
We found that COVID-19 worry moderates the relationship between cognitive stress and perceived psychological safety, such that higher COVID-19 worry worsened the relationship between cognitive stress and psychological safety
The results of the mediating analysis confirm that higher perceived psychological safety prevents the negative effects of cognitive stress on turnover intentions, confirming our first hypothesis
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed health professionals all over the world in an unprecedented situation, working under extreme pressures, both physically and psychologically (Greenberg et al, 2020; Howe et al, 2020). The new reality that the pandemic has brought has generated consequences that both organizations and individuals must face. Many people are adjusting to Stress and Turnover Intentions Within Healthcare Teams the new organizational demands the pandemic has caused while hoping to “return to normal” as soon as possible. The changes have affected employees’ job security, financial stability, and work-family balance, especially among healthcare workers. A less mentioned consequence has been the emotional impact that these changes have generated in employees, especially the stress they face when it comes time to go to work
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