IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/ecolab/v33y2022i1p100-116.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

COVID-19 and job demands and resources experienced by nurses in Sri Lanka

Author

Listed:
  • Shalini Dananja Wanninayake
  • Michael O’Donnell
  • Sue Williamson

Abstract

Sri Lanka has a history of successfully managing communicable diseases by utilising its extensive public healthcare network of community clinics and public hospitals. This article makes use of Job Demands-Resources theory (JD-R) to examine the impact of COVID-19 on nurses’ working conditions in public and private hospitals in Sri Lanka. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses’ job demands on public hospital wards included long working hours, limited workplace autonomy, minimal medical resources and high workloads caused by understaffing. Private hospital nurses experienced pressure from patients and their families to provide them with discounts on medical bills. Nurses allocated to work on COVID-19 wards experienced additional physical job demands from wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) for lengthy periods on hospital wards in a humid climate. Nurses on COVID-19 wards also experienced increased anxiety that they could transmit the disease to family members. While nurses experienced job resources such as social support from nursing supervisors and other nurses, they reported receiving minimal training in the provision of healthcare to COVID-19 patients. This combination of high job demands and low job resources increased the levels of exhaustion and mental distress experienced by many nurses working on COVID-19 hospital wards. JEL codes H51, H54, J24, J45, O15

Suggested Citation

  • Shalini Dananja Wanninayake & Michael O’Donnell & Sue Williamson, 2022. "COVID-19 and job demands and resources experienced by nurses in Sri Lanka," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(1), pages 100-116, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:33:y:2022:i:1:p:100-116
    DOI: 10.1177/10353046221077509
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10353046221077509
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/10353046221077509?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anliu Nie & Xiangfen Su & Shuzeng Zhang & Wenjie Guan & Jianfeng Li, 2020. "Psychological impact of COVID‐19 outbreak on frontline nurses: A cross‐sectional survey study," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(21-22), pages 4217-4226, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. María del Mar Molero-Jurado & María del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes & José Jesús Gázquez-Linares & Azucena Santillán García, 2021. "Coping Strategies as a Mental Health Protection Factor of Spanish Nurses during COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Siu-Ling Chan & Naomi Takemura & Pui-Hing Chau & Chia-Chin Lin & Man-Ping Wang, 2021. "Psychological Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Licensed Full-Time Practicing Nurses Undertaking Part-Time Studies in Higher Education: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Buthaina al Falasi & Mouza al Mazrouei & Mai al Ali & Maithah al Dhamani & Aisha al Ali & Mariam al Kindi & Murat Dalkilinc & Mai al Qubaisi & Luciana Aparecida Campos & Hashel al Tunaiji & Ovidiu Con, 2021. "Prevalence and Determinants of Immediate and Long-Term PTSD Consequences of Coronavirus-Related (CoV-1 and CoV-2) Pandemics among Healthcare Professionals: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-17, February.
    4. Eduardo Sánchez-Sánchez & J. Ángel García-Álvarez & Esperanza García-Marín & María Gutierrez-Serrano & Maria José M. Alférez & Guillermo Ramirez-Vargas, 2021. "Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Mental Health of Nurses and Auxiliary Nursing Care Technicians—A Voluntary Online Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-13, August.
    5. Ángel García-Tudela & Agustín Javier Simonelli-Muñoz & José Miguel Rivera-Caravaca & María Isabel Fortea & Lucas Simón-Sánchez & María Teresa Rodríguez González-Moro & José Miguel Rodríguez González-M, 2022. "Stress in Emergency Healthcare Professionals: The Stress Factors and Manifestations Scale," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-10, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; healthcare; nurses; job demands; job resources; Sri Lanka;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:33:y:2022:i:1:p:100-116. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.