Effects of Role Ambiguity on Work Stress with Islamic Coping as Mediation among Nurses during a Covid-19 Pandemic at the General Hospital in Aceh-Indonesia

Abstract

The nursing work environment has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its presence has impacted work stress among nurses in addition to other stressors including role ambiguity. Nurses with good stress coping can mitigate environmental stressors to minimize the work stress to the lowest level. This study intends to measure and analyze the direct effect of role ambiguity and Islamic coping on work stress. It also attempts to measure the indirect effect of role ambiguity on work stress through Islamic coping among nurses at the General Hospital dr. Zainoel Abidin (Rumah Sakit Umum dr. Zainoel Abidin - RSUDZA), Banda Aceh, Indonesia. A number of 206 nurses in inpatient rooms at the hospital were selected as the study’s sample using a stratified random sampling method. The primary data were collected using the questionnaires and analyzed using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. The study found that role ambiguity has positively influenced work stress, while Islamic coping has negatively impacted work stress. In addition, Islamic coping has mediated the effect of role ambiguity on work stress. These results have implications for reducing work stress of the nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic. The clarification of the roles and responsibilities and improvement of Islamic coping skills could mitigate the nurses’ work stress during the Covid-19 pandemic.