Nurses' Work-Family Strategies during COVID-19 Lockdown and Their Association with Individual Health and Family...

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Sociology of Health
• Family Studies

Background:

• COVID-19 lockdowns mandated home confinement, influencing equitable family duty distribution.
• Nurses' involvement in hospital closed-loop management limited their return home, prompting novel work-family strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore work-family management strategies among nurses during the COVID-19 lockdown.
• To examine the association of these strategies with nurses' health, family relationships, and job performance.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study surveyed 287 nurses involved in Shanghai hospital closed-loop management (March-June 2022).
• Latent Class Analysis identified five distinct work-family strategies based on seven categorical variables.

Main Results:

• Five strategies emerged: full/partial outsourcing to grandparents, husband-centric care, egalitarian remote work, and neo-traditional.
• Egalitarian strategies correlated with less psychological distress, relationship tension, and better job performance compared to neo-traditional.
• Husband-centric and outsourcing strategies presented mixed results: improved performance/relations but increased distress and reduced sleep.

Conclusions:

• Work-family strategies among nurses during lockdowns were diverse, impacting individual and family outcomes.
• Policymakers and practitioners should recognize this diversity and offer tailored support for risk mitigation.