A systematic review of the factors influencing retention or turnover intention among emergency personnel in epidemics

Abstract

To maintain the performance of emergency personnel who are at disproportionate risk of infection on the front lines of outbreaks, it is beneficial to understand the factors that promote their willingness to stay or leave their job. This study aims to identify key factors related to emergency workers' willingness to retain. This study identifies key factors related to emergency workers' willingness to be retained or turnover intention during infectious disease pandemics. Following the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review of the literature was conducted. To obtain the results, three databases, Scopus, PubMed Web of Science, and Google Scholar, were searched for English-speaking studies up to March 2022 that met the established inclusion criteria and were of high quality. Given the heterogeneity of the results, a qualitative synthesis of the results was also undertaken. A narrative synthesis was performed on 34 studies of high and medium quality. The studies examined different and multifaceted factors in three categories: retention, turnover decision, and factors that mediate between turnover intention and retention. The retention of frontline emergency workers during an epidemic is dependent on essential factors such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, managerial support, psychological well-being, and resilience.