Nurse's Perspective of Organizational Citizenship Behavior during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Context: Outbreaks of epidemics have destroyed civilizations throughout history, wiping out entire peoples. The rapidly evolving needs of patients during the pandemic have led to drastic changes in the organizations and delivery of services, which have placed enormous pressure on hospitals around the globe. One of the most studied phenomena is organizational performance, particularly organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).

Aim: To assess the organizational citizenship behavior level from the nurses' perspective during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: In this quantitative cross-sectional descriptive study, a stratified random sample of 315 nurses was selected from two large governmental hospitals in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using two self-report questionnaires: Demographic information and an OCB questionnaire.

Results:  Nurses had an overall high level of OCB (3.86±0.35) and high mean scores for all dimensions. However, the highest weighted mean was for courtesy (4.13±0.54), with a mean percentage of 82.63%, while the lowest was for civic virtue (3.54±0.67), with a mean percentage of 70.86%. Furthermore, nurses' OCB levels differ significantly according to their nationalities (p=0.006) and years of experience (p=0.013).

Conclusion: This study found that the nurses had a high level of OCB during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, this study shows that nurses' OCB levels differ according to their nationalities, years of experience, and the hospital. This study recommends assigning nurses with the expertise to formal administrative positions and responsibilities and allowing competent staff nurses to engage in educational programs.