NURSES’ PERCEPTION OF ORGANIZATIONAL SUPPORT DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Background: Nursing as a profession has been consistently challenging. As a result of the unstable conditions and continuous unpredictable changes in work environment due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses are experiencing twice the pressure than nurses who are recruited in normal circumstances. Organizational support is essential to assist nurses in reducing job-related stress. Objective: To evaluate nurses’ perceived organizational support during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional design was followed in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia that included 288 nurses working in 13 governmental hospitals. A self-administered questionnaire was designed by the researchers (in both English and Arabic versions), which included sociodemographic characteristics and the COVID Organizational Support Scale. Results: Most participant were Saudi (79.5%), females (91.3%), and aged 23-35 years (93.1%). About two-thirds of nurses (61.8%) had 1-2 years of work experience in Saudi Arabia. Most nurses (87.2%) had a Bachelor degree. Most participants dealt with COVID-19 patients and had previous experience with previous outbreaks (77.8% for both). The majority of nurses agreed regarding having access to appropriate personal protective equipment (75.3%), and getting tested for COVID-19 when they need to (70.8%). However, 90.3% of participants agreed that they are exposed to the risk of getting COVID-19 at work and they may take the virus home to their families, while 22.2% agreed that they have access to childcare during increased work hours and school closure, and 46.5% lack access to up-to-date information and communication from the healthcare system. Almost half of nurses (47.2%) perceived a poor organization support level, while 44.1% perceived good support level and only 8.7% perceived an excellent support level. Poor organizational support was most perceived by those aged 23-35 years (49.3%, p=0.044), while it was least perceived by female nurses (47.9%), non-Saudi nurses (50.8%), single nurses (48.8%), having no children (49.5%), with 1-2 years’ experience in Saudi Arabia (50%), with Bachelor degree (48.6%), who deal with COVID-19 patients (50%) and with no previous experience with previous outbreaks. However, apart from nurses’ age groups, differences in perceived organizational support according to nurses’ personal characteristics were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Nurses’ perceived organizational support in Aseer Region during the COVID-19 pandemic is suboptimal. Therefore, training should be provided to nurses in order to handle and cope with the increased workload during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to mitigate any experienced exhaustion. Key Words: Organizational Support; Nursing; COVID-19; Saudi Arabia.