Trust, ethical climate and nurses' turnover intention

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Behavior
• Nursing Research

Background:

• Nursing turnover is a critical issue for healthcare systems.
• Understanding factors influencing nurses' intention to leave is essential for retention.
• Ethical climates within healthcare organizations play a role in nurse turnover.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of ethical climates on nurses' turnover intention.
• To examine the mediating role of organizational trust in the relationship between ethical climates and turnover intention.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 285 nurses in three Indian hospitals.
• Established Likert-type scales measured ethical climates, turnover intention, and organizational trust.
• Hierarchical regression and mediation analyses were employed to test the research model.

Main Results:

• Both benevolent and principled ethical climates indirectly reduced turnover intention through increased trust in the organization.
• A principled ethical climate demonstrated a direct association with decreased turnover intention.
• The indirect effect of benevolent ethical climate on turnover intention via trust was -0.20 (95% CI: -0.31 to -0.01).
• The indirect effect of principled ethical climate on turnover intention via trust was -0.39 (95% CI: -0.58 to -0.17).

Conclusions:

• Establishing benevolent and principled ethical climates is crucial for enhancing organizational trust and reducing nurse turnover intention.
• Principled ethical climates have a direct impact on decreasing turnover intention.
• Nurse managers and leaders should focus on cultivating these ethical climates to improve staff retention.