Factors Contributing to Physical Therapist Attrition: A Qualitative Study

Physical therapists (PTs) report job satisfaction when delivering autonomous, high-quality care, but they also experience work-related stress, burnout, and emotional exhaustion. Retaining experienced and skilled clinicians is important. However, a subset of PTs are choosing to voluntarily leave clinical practice (i.e., experience attrition). PT attrition may negatively impact patient care, increase organizational costs, and negatively impact the profession.

This study examined the nature of the experiences of PTs voluntarily leaving clinical practice in order to understand factors contributing to PT attrition.

A pragmatic qualitative approach with individual, semi-structured interviews conducted with PTs who left clinical practice was used. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using deductive thematic analyses.

Nineteen US-based PTs who left clinical practice were interviewed. Participants were predominately female (n=15), Doctors of Physical Therapy (n=10), with a median of 6 years working in clinical practice as a PT. Analyses revealed five key themes contributing to leaving clinical practice subdivided into Herzberg's Theory: 1) lack of career advancement opportunities; 2) rising productivity requirements reducing the quality of patient care; 3) financial concerns due to imbalance between cost of PT education and compensation; 4) physical demands either contributing to attrition or seen as a benefit of the profession; and 5) emotional burden contributing to attrition or emotional connection seen as professional value.

Understanding the factors contributing to PT attrition is important to guide future strategies to address these factors. Further research may identify opportunities to address these concerns in entry-level education, workplace environments, and professional continuing education.