Turnover and intent to leave among speech pathologists

Sound, large scale and systematic research into why health professionals want to leave their jobs is needed. This study used psychometrically-sound tools and logistic regression analyses to determine why Australian speech pathologists were intending to leave their jobs or the profession. Based on data from 620 questionnaires, several variables were found to be significantly related to intent to leave. The speech pathologists intending to look for a new job were more likely to be under 34 years of age, and perceive low levels of job security and benefits of the profession. Those intending to leave the profession were more likely to spend greater than half their time at work on administrative duties, have a higher negative affect score, not have children under 18 years of age, and perceive that speech pathology did not offer benefits that met their professional needs. The findings of this study provide the first evidence regarding the reasons for turnover and attrition in the Australian speech pathology workforce, and can inform the development of strategies to retain a skilled and experienced allied health workforce.