Faces of the Nursing Shortage: Influences on Staff Nurses' Intentions to Leave Their Positions or Nursing

Objective The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between organizational commitment, job satisfaction, and nurses' intention to leave their current position or nursing. Background Because retention of nurses is a critical issue for acute care institutions, study of the predictors of nurses' intention to leave (position or nursing) is essential. Of interest in predicting intention to leave are both organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Methods A mailed survey was conducted in which 787 respondents completed measures of satisfaction, organizational commitment, and personal and institutional demographics. All instruments had reliability estimates ranging from α = .76 to .92. Results Predictive relationships were found between financial status, organizational commitment, job and professional satisfaction, and intent to leave their current position (R2 = 0.42) and between financial status, professional satisfaction, and intention to leave nursing (R2 = 0.45) Conclusions Organizational commitment has implications for nurses' intention to leave their current position but not nursing. Aspects of work and professional satisfaction predict both the intention to leave current position and nursing. Retention programs need to be focused on both organizational commitment and work and professional satisfaction.

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