FACTORS INFLUENCING ADULT CRITICAL CARE NURSES’ TURNOVER INTENTIONS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Abstract

Turnover of nurses is a serious and common problem for healthcare institutions, human resources, and health care managers. The health care system in Saudi Arabia is burdened and vii challenged by high turnover rates, and a lack of local health care practitioners. Turnover is a complex phenomenon that is affected by personal factors (i.e., years of experience, age) organizational factors (i.e., type of hospital, practice environment), and the affective response to the job (i.e., moral distress, job satisfaction). Therefore, identifying factors that lead to nurse turnover is a core step in developing strategies that can improve the retention of nurses. The aims of this descriptive correlational cross-sectional study were (1) investigate the relationship between nurses' individual factors, organizational factors (nursing practice environment and hospital type), and nurse outcomes (moral distress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention), and (2) compare the nurse practice environments, and nurse job outcomes (job dissatisfaction, moral distress, and turnover intention) in 5 Saudi public (non-teaching) and 4 teaching hospitals. In this study, instruments such as job satisfaction scale, Practice Environment Scale-Nursing Working Index, Turnover Intention Scale, and Measure of Moral Distress for Healthcare Professionals were used to collect data from critical care nurses (N=397) in Saudi Arabia. Results of this study have shown that favorable nursing work environments are correlated with favorable nurse outcomes (moral distress, turnover intention, and job satisfaction). The majority of the PES-NWI subscales as well as the nurse outcomes did not differ significantly between public and teaching hospitals. Moral distress and job satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between the nursing work environment and turnover intention. The study findings showed that the nursing work environment significantly predicted all nurse outcomes. Improving the quality of the nursing work environment can help nurse leaders improve nurse outcomes and reduce nurses’ turnover rate.