Abstract:
The supply of registered nurses is predicted to be insufficient to meet the healthcare needs of an aging society. It is imperative that nurses are retained to alleviate effects of this shortage on quality nursing care. Intent to leave is a behavior driven by many factors in registered nurses working in a hospital setting. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationships among personal values, individual and psychosocial job characteristics and intent to leave in hospital nurses. Individual characteristics included demographic variables such as age, gender, years of experience and education. Psychosocial job characteristics were decision latitude, psychological demands and social support. A nonexperimental, exploratory, cross-sectional survey research design was used. Data were collected using an online survey tool in a sample of registered nurses in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Participants ranged in age from 22 to 74 years old (M = 46.9). The majority of participants were female (n = 108, 93.1%), non-Hispanic Caucasian (n =94, 81%) and had obtained a bachelor of science degree (n=59, 50.9%). Participants had on average spent 11.9 years in their current job, had 20.9 years of experience, and worked 31.5 hours per week. The sample was dichotomized for bivariate comparisons: nurses with intent to leave (n=41) and nurses without intent to leave (n=75). Those with intent to leave had significantly lower income and a significantly lower score on the personal value of benevolence, indicating this was a lower value priority. Pearson correlations were computed and stepwise multiple regression was performed to determine the relationships among predictors of intent to leave. Fewer years of experience as a nurse, fewer years in the current job, and a higher score on the personal value of hedonism significantly predicted intent to leave, explaining 9.2% of the variance.
