Relationship Between Sleep-Related Worry, Work Well-Being, and Retention Intention Among Nurses: A Cross-Sectional...

Background: Nurses experience prolonged periods of heavy work pressure, and issues such as poor sleep quality frequently result in work-related anxiety and physical fatigue. Consequently, the academic community has increasingly focused on nurses' work well-being and retention intention. However, the specific impact of sleep-related worry on nurses' work well-being and retention intention remains underexplored. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep-related worry, work well-being, and retention intention among nurses. Methods: This study adopted a multicenter cross-sectional design and selected 1831 nurses from different medical institutions in China as the research subjects. Data were collected using a self-report questionnaire, including demographic characteristics, the Chinese Nurse Intention to Remain Employed Questionnaire, the Work Well-being Scale, and the Anxiety and Preoccupation about Sleep Questionnaire. IBM SPSS 27.0 was used for descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, single-factor analysis, and mediation effect analysis (Model 4 in PROCESS). Results: The sleep-related worry was significantly negatively correlated with work well-being and retention intention (r = -0.434, p < 0.01 and r = -0.311, p < 0.01), the work well-being and retention intention were positively correlated (r = 0.576, p < 0.01). The work well-being played a mediating role between sleep-related worry and retention intention, with the intermediate effect accounting for 75.86% of the total effect. Conclusion: This study shows that nurses' sleep-related worry not only directly affect their work well-being but also further affect their retention intention through affecting work well-being. Implications for Nursing Management: By investigating the relationship between nurses' sleep-related worry, work well-being, and their retention intention, this study recommends that nursing managers focus on improving nurses' sleep quality, mitigating their sleep-related worry, and offering enhanced support. These measures can effectively increase work well-being, which in turn may strengthen nurses' retention intention and mitigate brain drain.