The effect of work family conflict and work stress on life satisfaction of staff working in COVID-19 clinics

Job stress and work-family conflict are significant problems in the health sector. Also, the covid pandemic reveals the importance of the health sector. Patients and health care workers are the significant groups at risk. The workload of health care workers increased while working conditions considerably deteriorated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, it is expected that the impact of work stress and work-family conflict on health personnel increases during this period and the life satisfaction of health workers are adversely affected by this process. From this point of the view, the application of this study on the concepts of work stress, work-family conflict and life satisfaction of the front-line health workers during the pandemic period makes the study unique and valuable. The aim of the study is to examine the effect of work-family conflict and work stress on the life satisfaction of health personnel working during the Covid-19 Pandemic. The universe of the study consists of a total of 1300 healthcare professionals working in the Covid-19 pandemic clinics of Sakarya Training and Research Hospital, Yenikent State Hospital and Toyotasa Emergency Aid Hospital (these hospitals carry a large patient load during the pandemic in Sakarya). The sample of the study consists of 421 people selected by using stratified sampling and convenience sampling methods, taking into account the health workers working in the hospitals. A questionnaire form was used as a data collection tool in the study. The questionnaire form identifies the socio-demographic characteristics of participants and consists of the work-family life conflict scale developed by Netenmeyer, Boles, and McMurrian (1996), the perceived job stress scale developed by Cohen and Williamson (1988), the life satisfaction scale developed by Diener et al. (1985), and Covid-19 mood scale developed by the supervisor of this study. IBM SPSS Statistics 22 and AMOS 22 software were used to analyze the collected data. Descriptive statistical methods, correlation analysis, path analysis, Independent Samples t test, and One-Way Analysis of Variance were used to evaluate the data whose validity and reliability were measured. The data were analyzed at a 95% confidence interval (p=0.05). According to the findings of the study, there is a positive relationship between job stress and Covid mood, and a negative relationship between job stress and life satisfaction. On the other hand, no significant relationship between work-family conflict and other variables was observed. Work stress has a positive influence on Covid mood and a negative influence on life satisfaction. Work-family conflict has no significant effect on Covid mood and life satisfaction. In addition, Covid mood has a mediating role in the effect of job stress on life satisfaction. There is no significant difference in work stress, work-family conflict, Covid mood and life satisfaction according to the gender and total working time of the participants. However, there is a meaningful relationship observed in work-family conflict and life satisfaction according to the marital status of the participants; job stress depending on title; job stress depending on age groups, covid emotional status and life satisfaction; job stress and life satisfaction depending on education level; job stress and Covid mood according to the duration of work in the institution they still work. According to the results of the study, it is substantially important to take measures to reduce the work stress of health workers. Also, the level of work stress of nurses is higher although they serve Covid-19 patients. It is thought that providing direct service to the patient is effective. For this reason, it is recommended to take measures to increase the life quality of health care workers, especially for those fighting on the front lines.