AUTHOR=Wang Quan , Liu Xinyu , Wang Ting , Zhu Zemeng , Yang Li , Guo Shasha , Li Hui , Sun Qiang 

TITLE=Primary care provider's job satisfaction and organizational commitment after COVID-19 restrictions ended: A mixed-method study using a mediation model

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.873770

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2022.873770

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Objectives: More and more countries have decided to cancel most even all COVD-19 restriction. However, how ending of restrictions will impact primary care providers’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment is still unclear. Our objectives are to explore the current status and possible change of primary care providers’ job satisfaction and organizational commitment after massive restriction policies ended in China.

Methods: This was a mixed-method study that utilized structured questionnaires and semi-structured qualitative individual interviews. The 20-item Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and 25-item organizational commitment survey were adopted to assess job satisfaction and organization commitment. Descriptive statistics and mediation models, as well as inductive thematic analysis, were used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data.

Results: A total 18 interviews and 435 valid survey responses were included in our analysis. The average scores for job satisfaction and organizational commitment were 80.6 and 90.8. One major theme emerged from the thematic analysis, ethical and moral responsibility to providing care as primary care providers, which we established a mediation model on. The mediation analysis revealed that normative commitment could positively affect other 4 dimensions of organizational commitment and job satisfaction. The direct effect of affective commitment on job satisfaction was significant (LLCI=0.11, ULCI=0.31), the mediators identified to have a partial mediating effect instead of total mediating effect.

Conclusions: After COVID-19 restrictions end, the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of primary care providers will return to levels before the pandemic and during this estimated process, a brief rise in resignation is predictable. The normative commitment positively affects the other 4 dimensions of organizational commitment and job satisfaction for primary care providers, which suggests a possible way to motivate primary care providers when restrictions end.