Burned out and thinking of quitting: A moderated-mediation model of frontline health care workers and occupational stigma during COVID-19

BACKGROUND: Work burnout and job turnover intentions pose challenges for health care workers. An understudied area of impact is COVID-19 occupational stigma consciousness or the awareness that one's occupation has been stigmatized because of proximity and exposure to COVID-19. PURPOSES: Using job demands-resources theory, we examine the impact of COVID-19 occupational stigma consciousness, a novel job demand, on work burnout and job turnover intentions and the effectiveness of common job resources to buffer these effects among nurses in the United States. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: We surveyed frontline nurses working in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic ( N = 282). We used structural equation modeling to examine the impact of COVID-19 occupational stigma consciousness on job turnover intentions and the mediating role of work burnout. Perceived supervisor support and supportive work climate were examined as job resources. RESULTS: COVID-19 occupational stigma consciousness was significantly related to work burnout, and work burnout fully mediated the relationship between COVID-19 occupational stigma consciousness and job turnover intentions. Perceived supervisor support was related to reduced job turnover intentions and reduced work burnout. However, supportive work climate and perceived supervisor support did not moderate the impact of COVID-19 occupational stigma consciousness on work burnout. CONCLUSIONS: This study found support for the negative impact of a novel job demand, COVID-19 occupational stigma consciousness, on nurses in the workplace. Social support resources that are effective in other contexts for reducing the harmful effects of job demands were not effective at reducing occupational stigma among nurses during COVID-19. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: As pandemics increase in frequency, organizations and managers should understand the effects of disease-related stigma consciousness on employees and focus on implementing job resources that can mitigate the effects of such stigma.