Background

Nurses and social workers are two common professions with a university degree working within municipal nursing care and social welfare. Both groups have high turnover intention rates, and there is a need to better understand their quality of working life and turnover intentions in general and more specifically during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study investigated associations between working life, coping strategies and turnover intentions of staff with a university degree working within municipal care and social welfare during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods

A cross-sectional design; 207 staff completed questionnaires and data were analyzed using multiple linear regression analyses.

Results

Turnover intentions were common. For registered nurses 23% thought of leaving the workplace and 14% the profession ‘rather often’ and ‘very often/always’. The corresponding figures for social workers were 22% (workplace) and 22% (profession). Working life variables explained 34–36% of the variance in turnover intentions. Significant variables in the multiple linear regression models were work-related stress, home-work interface and job-career satisfaction (both for the outcome turnover intentions profession and workplace) and Covid-19 exposure/patients (turnover intentions profession). For the chosen coping strategies, ‘exercise’, ‘recreation and relaxation’ and ‘improving skills’, the results (associations with turnover) were non-significant. However, comparing the groups social workers reported that they used ‘recreation and relaxation’ more often than were reported by registered nurses.

Conclusions

More work-related stress, worse home-work interface and less job-career satisfaction together with Covid-19 exposure/patients (Covid-19 only for turnover profession) increase turnover intentions. Recommendations are that managers should strive for better home-work interface and job-career satisfaction, monitor and counteract work-related stress to prevent turnover intentions.