The Impact of Organizational Supports on Nurses’ Occupational Stress in COVID‐19 Pandemic: A Partial Least Squares Multigroup Analysis

Background: The safety and mental health issues of frontline nurses working during the coronavirus global outbreak must be placed as a first/top priority. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association between nurses’ occupation stress and organizational support among nurses in both infectious and non-infectious ICU wards during the COVID-19 crisis. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study. The study population was nurses caring for COVID‐19 patients in Imam Reza Hospital complex in Mashhad, Iran. The sample size was 129 nurses who were selected through random quota sampling and examined with a standard questionnaire. In order to analyze the information and test the hypothesis, the structural equation modeling approach using Smart PLS 2.0 software has been used. Descriptive and analytical statistical tests were used in this study. Results: The results indicated significant negative correlation between stress and perceived organizational support for ICU nurses (P <.001). Considering subscales in stress the highest mean occupational stress scores were related to “Death and dying” dimension (n=21 (13.98%)). Also, the difference between the two group of nurses in different workload (p < .001) and lack of support (p < 0.00) was also statistically significant. Conclusions: The results of the present study highlighted the importance of organizational support to reduce stress in nurses. To get through this unprecedented situation nurses need their employers and organizations to support them with action, planning and resources.