Roots and Wings: The Role of Job Embeddedness in Mitigating Nurses' Emigration Intention Through a Serial Mediation...

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Migration Studies
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• Healthcare professional migration, particularly nurses, exacerbates brain drain in low-income countries.
• Job embeddedness may decrease nurses' emigration intentions, but research in low-income settings is limited.
• Understanding factors influencing nurse migration is critical for healthcare system stability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the influence of job embeddedness on nurses' emigration intentions.
• To examine the mediating roles of employee voice and engagement in this relationship.
• To provide insights relevant to low-income country contexts.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional survey design involving 336 nurses in Nigeria.
• Theoretical framework based on Lewin's field theory and cumulative causation of migration.
• Quantitative analysis using SmartPLS 4.0 to assess direct and indirect effects.

Main Results:

• A significant negative relationship was found between job embeddedness and emigration intentions.
• Employee voice and engagement significantly mediated the relationship between job embeddedness and emigration intentions.
• Job embeddedness indirectly reduces the likelihood of nurses intending to emigrate.

Conclusions:

• Enhancing job embeddedness can be a strategy to mitigate nurse emigration.
• Fostering employee voice and engagement are key mechanisms through which job embeddedness impacts emigration intentions.
• Findings offer practical implications for healthcare organizations and policymakers addressing brain drain.