Mediating Role of Burnout in the Effect of Nurses' Workload on Turnover Intention during COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives of this study are to investigate the effect of workload on turnover intention and burnout and the mediating role of burnout in the effect of workload on leaving.COVID-19 pandemic leads to highly challenging work conditions for healthcare workers including nurses who mostly work at the front-line accompanying patients. This research was conducted in a private hospital with a Joint Commission International (JCI) certificate in Istanbul of Turkey between January and March 2021. 247 nurses comprising 91% of the nurse population in the hospital have been included. Workload had positive effect on burnout (β=0.51, 95% CI [0.287, 0.441]) and turnover intention of nurses (β=0.31, 95% CI [0.322, 0.603]). Burnout had a positive effect on turnover intention (β=0.54, 95% CI [0.932, 1.32]) and a mediating role in the effect of workload on turnover intention (β=0.41, 95% CI [0.302, 0.530]).Our finding indicated that increased workload is associated with increased levels of burnout and turnover intention of nurses. Furthermore, burnout has a positive effect on mediating the turnover intention.