Staying in hospital social work

Hospitals have traditionally been large employers of social workers. As workplaces they are often identified as being challenging and ambiguous environments for social work practice. In this study the experience of hospital work is explored. Social workers' 'tolerance' of the hospital environment is identified as a way of explaining 'staying.' Staying has both positive and negative features which arise from the interaction between workers' tolerance of the environment and their qualities of 'self-actualisation.' The identification of this relationship informs and challenges existing theories of retention and turnover of workers.