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Why Do Street-Level Bureaucrats Risk Themselves for Others? The Case of Public Health Care Workers in Egypt
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how street-level bureaucrats play an essential role in working under tremendous psychological and physical pressure with limited resources. Healthcare workers are at the front lines to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, and they are most vulnerable to infe...
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AUC Knowledge Fountain
2022
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| Summary: | The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how street-level bureaucrats play an essential role in working under tremendous psychological and physical pressure with limited resources. Healthcare workers are at the front lines to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic worldwide, and they are most vulnerable to infection and illness. Therefore, it is essential to identify the factors that enhance health care workers’ motivation at the time of pandemics and determine their willingness to risk their lives for others. The current study covers a sample of public health care workers working in two central quarantine public hospitals in Egypt. It considers a range of administrative, physician, nurses, non-medical staff, and managers who are the main focus of this research. A purposive sample of 40 participants was selected considering different specialties in order to develop a holistic picture of the relationship between the study variables from several viewpoints. This research relies on qualitative data conducted using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The findings of the present study suggest that patriotism, a sense of responsibility, religious beliefs, public recognition, and appreciation are the most significant factors influencing health care workers as street-level bureaucrats to risk their lives for others during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the study results show that while good compensation packages, donations, and peer support boost the health care workers’ motivation during their work in quarantine hospitals, the lack of organizational preparedness and non-compliance with preventive measures by citizens are areas for improvements in order to obtain better outcomes. Recommendations based on the findings are; governments and health care organizations should promote a sense of responsibility among health care workers, pay attention to public health care workers by presenting their success stories and appreciating their efforts across all media, create a positive working environment through enhancing helpful behavior and peer support throughout hard times such as the current pandemic; a well-designed disaster preparedness strategy should be in place to ensure that communities and health care organizations have a well-structured system to manage health care disasters effectively. |
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