Mediating effect of resilience and job embeddedness on the relationship between organisational identification and turnover intention among junior nurses: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background The role of junior nurses in healthcare services has been emphasised in China, where a high turnover rate among junior nurses has been observed. Junior nurses’ turnover intentions have garnered increasing attention in further research to determine the factors that keep them with their employers. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between Organisational Identification (OID), resilience, job embeddedness, and turnover intention among Chinese junior nurses based on social identity and conservation of resources (COR) theories. Methods This cross-sectional study comprising 602 junior nurses was conducted at four tertiary hospitals in Shandong Province, China, and the data were analysed using descriptive statistics, independent-sample t-tests, one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Spearman’s correlation analysis, regression analysis, and bootstrapping. Results Significant correlations were found between OID, resilience, job embeddedness, and turnover intention. Analysis of mediating effects revealed that OID predicted turnover intention through three indirect pathways: the mediating effect value of resilience was − 0.033 [Bootstrap 95% CI: -0.057, -0.010], accounting for 16.26% of the total effect; the mediating effect value of job embeddedness was − 0.080 [Bootstrap 95% CI: -0.114, -0.054], accounting for 39.41% of the total effect; and the chain mediating effect value of resilience and job embeddedness was − 0.036 [Bootstrap 95% CI: -0.051, -0.023], accounting for 17.73% of the total effect. Conclusions OID not only directly predicts turnover intention but also exerts indirect predictions through the separate and chain mediating effects of resilience and job embeddedness. OID can reduce junior nurses’ turnover intention by amplifying the accumulation of personal resources. Hospital administrators should incorporate OID, resilience, and job embeddedness into the routine psychological screening of junior nurses and implement essential comprehensive strategies aimed at enhancing OID, bolstering resilience, and promoting job embeddedness, to mitigate junior nurses’ turnover intentions.