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This paper reports initial findings from a longitudinal study of autonomy, willingness to risk, exit/voice (E/V) and managerial environment (ME) as predictors of registered nurses' intent to stay (ITS) that is being conducted at eight Midwestern hospitals in the USA. In this two-stage study, initial findings are based on responses from 524 staff nurses. Due to the nature of the ITS variable, two logistic regression analyses were computed to test the predictive relationships of the independent variables. In the first, subjects with neutral ITS scores were grouped with subjects who had no intent to stay. Both ME and E/V were predictive of ITS. In the second analysis, the subjects with neutral ITS scores were grouped with subjects who intended to stay. In this case, only ME was predictive. While the per cent variance accounted for by these variables is not as high as some other variables reported in previous research, these variables are amenable to managerial interventions.

A model of the relation between social support and maternal well-being was tested for mothers of distressed and normal newborns. It was hypothesized that the quality of the mother's closest relationship would mediate the link between social support and maternal affect, and that the mother s affect would, in turn, predict the mother's attitude toward the infant. Both the level of support provided by the close relation, and the extent to which the mother's expectations for support had been confirmed or disconfirmed were included as predictors in the proposed model. Participants were 47 mothers of infants treated in neonatal intensive care units and 36 mothers of healthy newborns. A path analysis provided support for the proposed model. Subsidiary analyses suggested that the fit of the model was somewhat better for mothers of distressed babies. The results suggest the importance of close relationships as mediators of well-being following major life transitions. Implications for intervention are discussed.The birth of a child represents an important transition for the infant's mother and her close social network members that may affect the quality of her interpersonal relationships, her personal well-being, and her attitudeThe authors gratefully acknowledge the nursing and medical staffs of Memorial Hospital, Hollywood, Florida and the private physicians who assisted with recruitment. We also express our appreciation to Carol Miller, Joan Austin, Steven Loveless, and James Rotton for their support of this project, and to the women who participated in this study. The article is based on a dissertation by Sherrilyn Coffman submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree at Indiana University.

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