Turnover Intentions among Nurses in Private Hospitals: Antecedents and Mediators

Private hospitals in India are preferred by people inspite of their higher cost; a reason for its preference is quality of care. Quality care is delivered by health-workers among whom nurses form a major group.

Organisational turnover is high among nurses; to frame a proper retention policy their turnover intentions need to be understood. Studies in several countries indicate there are several antecedents and mediators of turnover intentions. India is culturally different from those countries; hence keeping in view the cultural variation the present study was made to analyse the influence of different factors on turnover intentions of nurses.

The study found organisational support, nursing role stress, and core self-evaluation play a significant role in predicting turnover intentions and affective commitment mediates their relationship. The study also found that turnover intentions of nurses from Kerala (India) differ from those of other Indian states.

This study shall help healthcare administrators to devise appropriate retention policy for nurses. Limitations of this research, academic and managerial implications are also discussed.