“Determining the effect of job satisfaction, work motivation, and work commitment on nurse performance amidst COVID-19 pandemic”

Nurses are on the frontline fighting COVID-19, as they are caring for patients during the days and nights they spend at the hospital. The purpose of this study is to determine the direct impact of job satisfaction on motivation, commitment, and performance of nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the roles of work motivation and employee commitment on nurse performance are also tested. The population in this study is nurses at the State Regional Hospital in Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia, totaling 161 nurses. The sample in this study is 62 respondents. The analysis technique used in this study is path analysis. The results show that job satisfaction has a significant role to foster motivation, commitment, and performance of nurses in the hospital. Furthermore, employee commitment and work motivation are also proved to affect nurse performance. The results provide a better understanding of the approaches that can be taken to maintain nurse performance, especially during a pandemic. treatment, and they can provide ideas for change. Nurses are critical in handling health emergencies because they serve as vital bridges between patients and the rest of the healthcare team. They are there for all of their patients’ changes and may detect tiny changes in their patients’ behavior that indicate whether they are becoming worse or better, using judgment and critical thinking. Nurses communicate their observations to doctors and other team members, consider whether breathing therapy is required, evaluate the patient’s reaction to med-©


INTRODUCTION
Officials in Wuhan City, China, announced the first human occurrences of COVID-19 in December 2019, after which Chinese authorities conducted retroactive investigations and discovered human cases with symptoms. The majority of persons infected with the COVID-19 virus have mild to moderate respiratory symptoms and recover without needing any particular therapy. People who are older or who have comorbid conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic lung disease, or cancer are more prone to acquire severe illnesses (WHO, n.d.).
Nurses play a critical role locally and worldwide since they are on the front lines every day caring for these patients. They can see what works and what may be done differently to give more efficient and appropriate treatment, and they can provide ideas for change. Nurses are critical in handling health emergencies because they serve as vital bridges between patients and the rest of the healthcare team. They are there for all of their patients' changes and may detect tiny changes in their patients' behavior that indicate whether they are becoming worse or better, using judgment and critical thinking. Nurses communicate their observations to doctors and other team members, consider whether breathing therapy is required, evaluate the patient's reaction to med-ical care, and educate the patient, as well as providing ears to listen and calming touches. Nurses must be able to perform under pressure and deliver the best results in this extremely risky work environment.
Studies on nurse performance have been carried out by several researchers including Platis et al. (2015), who found that job satisfaction has a relationship with nurse performance, and Al-Ahmadi (2002), who showed that job satisfaction and organizational commitment are strong predictors of nurse performance. Furthermore, Supri et al. (2019) and Ibrahim et al. (2016) revealed that the level of performance among staff nurses was relatively low. The above studies were done before the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the study on nurse performance during a pandemic crisis involving the variables of job satisfaction, work motivation, and commitment of nurses is necessary to be carried out. Motivation is the desire to accomplish something and the capacity to act to meet personal needs. It is a readiness to go to great lengths to achieve corporate objectives that are constrained by the capacity to fulfill individual demands (Robbins, 2013). Moreover, motivation is defined as the ability to cause someone to act and guide one's conduct toward the attainment of certain objectives and offers resources to help one reach these goals (Steers & Porter, 1995).

LITERATURE REVIEW
Employees become perpetrators who support the achievement of goals, have thoughts, feelings, and desires that can influence negative attitudes, which should be avoided as early as possible. Job satisfaction is a component of life satisfaction, which is determined by how well people use their talents, interests, and personal qualities to achieve their ideals (Prabu & Anwar, 2013). Managers should enhance employee satisfaction to increase employee motivation to build these favorable attitudes about employees.

Job satisfaction and employee commitment
Robbins (2013) states that high satisfaction is an incentive for employees to increase their commitment to the organization. In addition, job satisfaction will have an impact on employee productivity and employee commitment to remain loyal. Robbins (2013) further asserted that employee commitment would rely heavily on appropriate rewards, challenging work, supportive coworkers, and supportive working conditions.
Employee commitment is an event where an individual is very interested and has a strong interest in goals, values, and organizational goals. Commitment includes very pleasant qualities of employees and the willingness to strive for a high level of effort for the interests of the organization to facilitate the achievement of organizational goals. Mowday et al. (2002) define organizational commitment or work commitment as the strength of individuals in identifying their involvement in the organization. Employee commitment, on the other hand, is defined by Newstrom and Davis (1993) as the degree to which workers identify themselves with the company and desire to continue actively engaging in it. It is a measure of an employee's inclination to stay with a company in the future, similar to a strong magnetic force pulling two metallic objects together (

Job satisfaction and employee performance
Job satisfaction is defined as the degree to which people feel favorably or adversely about various aspects or dimensions of their work responsibilities ( . Workplace morale reflects job satisfaction, which is an emotional state (Hasibuan, 2016). Job satisfaction may be defined as a comparison of what employees actually receive against what they expect (Gomes, 2011). Job satisfaction is defined as a feeling of enjoyment at work that is derived from positive feedback on work performance, right placement, good treatment, enough equipment, and a pleasant working atmosphere. Even if pay were vital, employees who want to have job satisfaction at work would prioritize their work above incentives. According to Handoko (2015), job satisfaction is a factor that is thought to promote and affect employee morale to work well, and eventually affect employee performance, and it is the responsibility of every manager in the firm to generate it for the staff. Furthermore, Diana et al. (2020) also stated that during the COVID-19 pandemic, high job satisfaction is able to improve the performance of nurses.
The success of an organization is largely determined by the performance of its employees. It refers to the quality and amount of work produced by workers as they carry out their tasks (Mangkunegara, 2016). Employee performance is a result obtained by employees in their work based on a set of criteria specific to the employment. Job discontent has an indirect impact on genuine employee work mistakes, which will directly impair employee performance, according to Kreitner and K inick i (2001). Kossen (1991) has explained the relationship between work motivation and performance. The expectancy theory suggests people behave in a certain way because they expect certain results from that behavior. With expectations, employees will be motivated to use the ability to achieve the performance expected by the company.

Work motivation and employee performance
Hasibuan (2016) defines performance as the work that someone has accomplished in carrying out his obligations based on intellect, effort, and opportunity. Employee performance, according to Robbins (2013), is a product of the relationship of ability, motivation, and opportunity. Setting a performance objective, according to Robbins (2013), is establishing a beneficial target not only for performance evaluation at the end of the term but also for controlling work processes during the period ( All employees in the organization carry out the tasks according to their expectations, which are revealed either formally or informally as a hope that is communicated continuously, where such communication contained promises in the form of awards and sanctions as the consequences of employee performance. This hope is inseparable from the motivation and ability of employees to achieve high performance. The findings of Yulianti (2021) demonstrate that work motivation is a significant psychological component for nurses in boosting their performance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It was found out that nurses are motivated to work because they are rewarded for their accomplishments and their needs are met regularly, which then improves their quality of life and performance.

Employee commitment and employee performance
Commitment often reflects the employee's belief in the mission and goals of the firm, willingness to expend effort in their accomplishment, and intentions to continue working there. It is broader in scope than just loyalty. Robbins (2002) argues that employee commitment is a situation where an employee is sided with a particular organization and its goals and intends to maintain membership in the organization. Greenberg and Baron (2003) expressed a similar opinion: employee commitment is a trait that reflects a person's degree that is identified and involved with the organization and has no desire to leave the organization. Identification of the organization is interpreted as a condition of sharing the goals of the organization members, feeling ownership of the organization, and loyal-ty to the organization. Whereas involvement in an organization is seen as an individual's desire to be actively involved in achieving organizational goals and always support those goals.
Yáñez-Araque et al. (2021) conducted a study amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and found that high-committed nurses are more likely to enjoy their profession. As a result, despite being in a situation full of pressure, nurses will not hesitate to give their best performance.
In contrast, Irvine and Evans (1995) state that dissatisfaction with work brings effect on work errors through its influence on organizational commitment to shaping employee performance, thus it can be concluded that commitment is directly related to the performance of the employee.

AIMS AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
This current study aims at underlining the role of job satisfaction, work motivation, and employee commitment on employee performance in the context of COVID-19. Though there have been numerous studies attempting to uncover determinants of employee performance, this study is unique in that it is pertinent to the current world situation and raises the question of whether the environment in the midst of a pandemic leads to different empirical results. In fact, this study specifically took nurses as the respondents and hence add more relevance. In the professional sphere, the pandemic has somehow produced pressure and obstacles, particularly in terms of employee performance. It is expected that by researching employee performance during tough circumstances, the results would improve knowledge and provide empirical proof applicable for other analogous situations.
Based on the above-mentioned literature review and the objectives of the current study, the following hypotheses are developed: H1: Job satisfaction has a significant effect on work motivation.
H2: Job satisfaction has a significant effect on employee (nurse) commitment.
H3: Job satisfaction has a significant effect on employee (nurse) performance.
H4: Work motivation has a significant effect on employee (nurse) performance.
H5: Employee commitment has a significant effect on employee (nurse) performance. Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework of the study.

METHODS
The population of this study is nurses of dr. R. Soedarsono Hospital, a state hospital in Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia, amounted to 161 nurses. The sample size is determined by the Slovin formula and the total sample is 62 nurses. The questionnaire technique is used to obtain data related to the research variables.
The current study uses the exogenous variable of Job Satisfaction (X), the intervening variables are Work Motivation (Z1) and Employee Commitment (Z2), and finally, the endogenous variable is Nurse Performance (Y). This study measures Job Satisfaction (X) variable using items from Munir and Rahman's study (2016). Regarding Work Motivation (Z1) variable, the items are based on Hanaysha's work (2016), while to measure Employee Commitment (Z2), the basis is the study by Mowday et al. (2002). Nurse Performance variable (Y) is measured by items taken from Gomes (2011). The questionnaire is arranged in the form of a closed statement with 5 (five) alternative answers using the Likert scale.

Results
Path analysis is used to determine the effect of variables. Table 1 shows the results of hypotheses testing.
From Table 1, the critical ratio (CR) value of job satisfaction to work motivation is 4.099 and the probability (P) value is 0.000 < α of 0.05. The test results accept Ha and reject H0. It can be interpreted that job satisfaction has a significant influence on work motivation. If job satisfaction increases, work motivation will also increase, and vice versa. The magnitude of job satisfaction on work motivation is 0.590. It can be interpreted that 59% of changes in job satisfaction will be able to influence work motivation of nurses.
The critical ratio (CR) value of job satisfaction to employee commitment is 3.960 and the probability (P) value is 0.000 < α of 0.05. The test results accept Ha and reject H0. It can be interpreted that job satisfaction has a significant effect on employee commitment. If job satisfaction increases, then employee commitment will also increase and vice versa. The influence magnitude of job satisfaction on employee commitment is 0.697. It brings an understanding that a 69.7% change in job satisfaction variable can influence nurse commitment.
Next, the critical ratio (CR) value of employee commitment to nurse performance is 2.197 and a probability (P) value is 0.028 < α of 0.05. The test results accept Ha and reject H0. It means employee commitment has a significant influence on nurse performance. If employee commitment increases, the nurse performance will also increase, and if the commitment decreases, the nurse performance will also decrease. The magnitude of the effect of employee commitment on nurse performance is amounting to 0.285. It can be interpreted that only 28.5% of changes in the employee commitment variable can affect the performance of nurses in dr. R. Soedarsono Hospital, Pasuruan, East Java, Indonesia.
The critical ratio (CR) value of work motivation to nurse performance of 2.823 and the probability value is 0.048 < α of 0.05. The test results accept Ha and reject H0. It means the work motivation has a significant influence on nurse performance. An increase in work motivation means an increase in nurse performance and vice versa. The influence magnitude of work motivation on nurse performance is 0.289. It can be interpreted that 28.9% of changes in the variable of work motivation can affect nurse performance.
The critical ratio (CR) value of job satisfaction to nurse performance is 4.424 and a probability value is 0.000 < α of 0.05. The test results accept Ha and reject H0. It can be interpreted that job satisfaction has a significant influence on nurse performance. If job satisfaction increases, nurse per-

DISCUSSION
This study has five hypotheses that have been statistically tested, where job satisfaction directly influences work motivation by 0.590 or 59% and the value of the critical ratio (CR) is 4.099. It can be understood that with high job satisfaction, it will be able to increase the work motivation of nurses, but if job satisfaction is not good, it will be difficult to improve work motivation of nurses. Nurses' satisfaction comes when their patients recover from the disease. During this COVID-19 pandemic, it is what eventually motivating them to continue working.
Job satisfaction directly influences nurse commitment hospital by 0.697 or 69.7% and a critical value (CR) value of 3.960. This can be understood that with higher job satisfaction, the commitment will also increase, but if job satisfaction is not good, it will be difficult to improve work commitment. This also shows that although COVID-19 is very frightening but with high job satisfaction, nurses still have a high commitment to work well.
Job satisfaction has a direct effect on nurse performance by 0.691 or 69.1% and the value of the critical ratio (CR) is 4.424. It means increasing job satisfaction is increasing nurse performance as well, but if job satisfaction of nurses is not good, it will be difficult to improve job performance, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nurse commitment has a direct effect on nurse performance by 0.285 or by 28.5% and critical ratio (CR) value of 2.197. This can be understood that if the commitment of nurses is high, it will be able to improve nurse performance; however, if the nurse commitment is not good, it will be difficult to improve nurse performance.
Work motivation has a direct effect on nurse performance by 0.289 or 28.9% and critical (CR) value of 2.823 meaning that with high work motivation, it will be possible to improve the performance of nurses.

CONCLUSION
The purpose of this study is to highlight the influence of job satisfaction, work motivation, and employee commitment on employee performance, specifically nurses. The findings of the current study gave empirical evidence that job satisfaction has a direct impact on work motivation, employee commitment, and employee performance. Furthermore, work motivation and employee commitment also show a direct impact on nurse performance. As one of the critical determinants of an organizational success, employee performance supports the organization to achieve its objectives effectively and efficiently. Though a lot of studies have focused on employee performance, opting on nurses as the subject of the research may pique the interest of people in charge of healthcare management and extend their understanding, since nurses are on the front lines of dealing with the epidemic. The findings highlight the significant areas for adopting plans to improve nurses' work performance and serve as the first step toward a greater knowledge of approaches that may be used to influence nurses' job performance.