Person-centred environments and nurses' turnover intention: examining their relationship using structural equation...

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Healthcare Management
• Organizational Psychology

Background:

• Supportive practice environments are crucial for retaining nurses and delivering person-centered care.
• Lack of alignment with professional values can cause moral distress, leading to disengagement and turnover intention.
• Pathways between person-centered practice environments and nurse turnover intention require further exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test a theoretical model linking person-centered aspects of the practice environment to nurse turnover intention.
• To identify key mediators influencing the relationship between practice environment and turnover intention.
• To inform targeted nurse retention strategies.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 573 nurses in acute-care hospitals and nursing homes.
• Validated instruments assessed nurses' prerequisites, practice environment, person-centered climate, moral distress, coolout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention.
• Structural equation modeling was used to test the theoretical models.

Main Results:

• The practice environment significantly predicted a person-centered climate (β=0.74, p<0.001).
• Person-centered climate indirectly reduced turnover intention, mainly through job satisfaction (β=-0.468, p<0.001) and coolout (β=-0.124, p<0.001).
• The mediating effect of moral distress on turnover intention was negligible (β=0.043, p=0.067).

Conclusions:

• The practice environment is a critical factor influencing nurse retention.
• Interventions should focus on enhancing job satisfaction and fostering a sense of coolout to mitigate turnover intention.
• Further research into mediating mechanisms is recommended for refining retention strategies.