Nurses' job embeddedness and turnover intention: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Organizational Psychology
• Human Resources Management

Background:

• Nurse turnover is a significant issue impacting healthcare systems globally.
• Job embeddedness, a multidimensional construct, is theorized to influence employee retention.
• Understanding factors affecting nurse retention is crucial for healthcare workforce stability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze the relationship between job embeddedness and turnover intention in nurses.
• To explore the influence of job embeddedness dimensions on turnover intention.
• To investigate how factors like career length, education, and marital status moderate this relationship.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature search was conducted across multiple databases (e.g., PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL) up to March 2024.
• Included studies were evaluated for quality using Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) criteria.
• A systematic review and meta-analysis of 47 studies involving 15,742 nurses were performed.

Main Results:

• A moderate negative correlation (r = -0.487) was found between overall job embeddedness and turnover intention.
• On-the-job embeddedness (r = -0.527) showed a stronger negative association with turnover intention than off-the-job embeddedness (r = -0.234).
• Sacrifice emerged as the dimension with the strongest negative correlation (r = -0.460) with turnover intention. Career duration, education, and marital status significantly affected these relationships (P < 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Job embeddedness is a significant protective factor against nurses' turnover intentions.
• On-the-job embeddedness and the sacrifice dimension are particularly important for retaining nurses.
• Findings provide evidence-based recommendations for nurse managers to enhance job embeddedness and improve retention.