Aim
To determine the impact of workforce engagement factors on nurses' intention to leave their hospital.
Background
Nurse retention is important for safe patient care. It is unknown whether meaning and joy in work, occupational fatigue, job satisfaction and unprofessional behaviour experiences predict hospital nurse turnover intentions.
Method
This cross‐sectional study involved responses from 747 nurses from two south‐western hospitals. Measures included surveys to capture meaning and joy in work, job satisfaction, occupational fatigue and unprofessional behaviour exposure/impact.
Results
Following correlational analyses, manifest variables significantly correlated with related latent factors. In structural equation modelling, greater chronic occupational fatigue was the strongest and meaning and joy at work (negative direction) the next strongest predictor of turnover intention. Although significant, job satisfaction and acute fatigue were weak predictors. Inter‐shift recovery did not predict intent to leave.
Conclusion
This is the first study to identify Chronic Fatigue and meaning and joy in work as significant predictors of hospital nurse turnover intentions.
Implications for Nursing Management
Employing practices that decrease chronic fatigue and increase meaning/joy in work are recommended to improve nurse retention.
The 23-item hospital nurse Behavioral Health Care Competency survey is an adequate and valid newly developed instrument. Further testing with diverse samples is needed to strengthen generalizability and address unique and specialized nursing care needs.
Disruptive behaviors are common among hospitalized patients with psychiatric and substance abuse behaviors. Nurses working on nonpsychiatric units, however, may lack competencies to care for patients with such behaviors. A survey was developed and administered to 844 nurses across three hospital settings that revealed a lack of nurse confidence to intervene in situations that require de-escalation techniques and crisis communication. This study provides direction for further research and interventions in hospital settings with similar professional development needs.
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