Factors Influencing Nurses' Intention to Leave Profession in Iran

Abstract

Background: Several reasons account for nurses' intention to leave the nursing profession. Understanding these factors is a step towards reducing such incidents which pose a threat to the nursing profession. This study aimed to identify and rank the circumstances that influence the intention to leave the nursing profession in Iran.
 Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional analytical study, which employed four other methods to reach a sound conclusion in 2019.The electronic databases, including the Scientific Information Database, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, OVID, Cochrane Library, CINAHL,, were searched for studies published from the year 1998 to December 2018 for scientific studies conducted among factor associated intention to leave in Iran. The Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) method was then used to extract hidden factors and determine the hierarchical structure of the review's findings. Using the combination of Analytical Hierarchy Process and Fuzzy Logic, the weight of each one of the factors that affect the intention to leave the nursing profession was then calculated. Finally, the accuracy of the results of the Consistency Ratio and Fuzzy analytic hierarchical process (FAHP), was calculated and evaluated.
 Results: The electronic search delivered 100 studies, from which we identified and extracted 26 most occurring reasons for the desire to leave the nursing profession. Based on the EFA results, we identified four criteria (personal, managerial, organizational, and side issues) with eigenvalues ​​higher than 1. The first criteria (personal issues) scored the highest (53.39 %), while side issues scored the lowest (13.40 %) as reasons accounting for the intention to leave the nursing profession.
 Conclusion: Job stress, the lack of freedom and independence in the clinical environment, discrimination, and the probability of catching an illness have higher prominence in influencing nurses' tendency to leave work. These factors can be mitigated by altering managerial techniques within organizations.

Intention to leave the profession and related factors in nurses: A cross‐sectional study in Kermanshah, Iran

“…However, the intention to leave in the present study is higher than in some studies conducted in the United States (14.6%), Canada (13.0%) and Australia (15.0%) (Chegini et al, 2019;Fernet et al, 2017;Guo et al, 2019). One of the most important reasons for the high intention to leave in developing countries compared to developed countries is the high number of mandatory overtime hours for nurses due to lack of nurses (Alilu et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2017;Marznaki et al, 2021) in nurses leaving the profession (Alilu et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2017;Marznaki et al, 2021;Sharififard et al, 2019). Another possible factor in the high intention of Iranian nurses to leave the profession is their low job satisfaction; evidence shows that the job satisfaction of Iranian nurses is moderate to low, which is lower than in developed countries (Akbari et al, 2020).…”

“…However, the intention to leave in the present study is higher than in some studies conducted in the United States (14.6%), Canada (13.0%) and Australia (15.0%) (Chegini et al, 2019; Fernet et al, 2017; Guo et al, 2019). One of the most important reasons for the high intention to leave in developing countries compared to developed countries is the high number of mandatory overtime hours for nurses due to lack of nurses (Alilu et al, 2016; Lee et al, 2017; Marznaki et al, 2021). Another reason for the difference in results may be related to the nurses' work environment.…”

“…Another reason for the difference in results may be related to the nurses' work environment. Evidence suggests that a clinical environment full of respect, power, freedom and independence may be among the most important preventive factors in nurses leaving the profession (Alilu et al, 2016; Lee et al, 2017; Marznaki et al, 2021; Sharififard et al, 2019). Another possible factor in the high intention of Iranian nurses to leave the profession is their low job satisfaction; evidence shows that the job satisfaction of Iranian nurses is moderate to low, which is lower than in developed countries (Akbari et al, 2020).…”

“…In line with our results, a survey in Saudi Arabia reported that nurses in surgical wards were more likely to leave the profession than nurses in other wards (Albougami et al, 2020). Nurses in surgical wards are more exposed to job stress than other nurses due to high workload and higher mortality of patients, which can reduce their job satisfaction and, consequently, increase the intention to leave (Albougami et al, 2020; Marznaki et al, 2021). In the present study, the high workload and job stress in surgical wards compared to paraclinical wards may be the reason for the high intention to leave in surgical ward nurses.…”

Resilience, Occupational Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Intention to Leave the Organization among Nurses and Midwives during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The current study did not show a significant effect of direct contact with COVID-19 patients. Other results show that, aside from occupational stress, the risk of infection strongly impacts the intention to leave among nurses [ 68 ]. In contrast to the current results, a study from April 2020 showed that contact with COVID-19 patients has a significant effect on resilience [ 69 ].…”