[The correlating factors affecting nursing personnel resignation in an university hospital]

Demographic characteristics of 1080 university hospital nursing personnel were studied from January 1979 to December 1987. These characteristics included age, marital status, number of children and educational background. Among them, 457 nurses have resigned, while others remain in service. We evaluated the correlations between resignation and various demographic characteristics and the reasons for resignation. This would provide valuable references for nursing recruitment and hospital administration. Our analysis revealed that the reasons for resignation are in the following order: Transfer to governmental hospital, advanced study, marriage, change of occupation, transfer to teaching, personal problems, medical corps to Saudi-Arabia, family responsibilities, and relocation to other cities. Regarding to demographic characteristics, both educational background and marital status affected the reasons for resignation. The average length of service time for nurses who resigned was 30.0 +/- 29.59 months. There are significant differences among the age, marital status, number of children and educational background. The nurses between the age of 21 and 30 years old, (79%) had the highest rate of resignation (45.64%). Those below the age of 20 had the shortest service time, while those above 30 years old had the longest service time. The married nurses also had a longer service time than the single ones. Those who had children had a longer service time compared to those without children. In view of their educational background, those with a bachelor degree had the shortest service time (16.8 +/- 10.3 months) and the highest rate of resignation (71.1%). Our analysis indicates that professional license and location of residence also affected the reasons for resignation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)