Nurses Who Are More Willing to Participate in the Fight against COVID-19: Evidence from China

Lai-Kun Tong, Ming-Xia Zhu, Si-Chen Wang, Pak-Leng Cheong and Iat-Kio Van
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Lai-Kun Tong: Research Management and Development Department, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macau 999078, China
Ming-Xia Zhu: Education Department, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macau 999078, China
Si-Chen Wang: Education Department, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macau 999078, China
Pak-Leng Cheong: Education Department, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macau 999078, China
Iat-Kio Van: Education Department, Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau, Macau 999078, China

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 14, 1-9

Abstract: When facing an infectious disease disaster, nurses’ willingness to work is critical. Nurses’ lack of willingness to work during a pandemic may worsen the shortage of health care personnel. The purpose of this study is to assess the willingness of nurses to participate in the fight against COVID-19 in China and to identify factors associated therewith. This cross-sectional study examines nurses working in 11 Chinese cities including Macau, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, and Zhuhai. Questionnaires were collected from 19 May to 7 August 2020. A total of 8065 questionnaires were received, of which 8030 valid questionnaires were included for analysis. A total of 53.4% of participants reported that they had signed up to support the COVID-19 pandemic response. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that being single (OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.60–0.87), having no children (OR = 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68–0.97), possessing higher professional qualifications (OR = 1.25, 95% CI: 1.14–1.37), having a more prestigious professional title (OR = 1.68, 95%CI: 1.50–1.90), being an administrative supervisor (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.45–0.63), having a higher caring dimensions inventory score (OR = 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01–1.01), working in a hospital (OR = 0.53, 95% CI: 0.39–0.72), and receiving employer-provided care training (OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.68–0.87) were predictive of nurses’ willingness to participate in the fight against COVID-19. We suggest that unmarried nurses should be given priority when recruiting to fight an epidemic and, for married nurses with children who are recruited to fight an epidemic, supporting measures should be provided for childcare. We suggest strengthening workplace training of caring for nurses in order to better retain and recruit qualified support for an epidemic outbreak of infectious diseases.

Keywords: COVID-19; nurse; willingness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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