Nursing turnover has been identified as a clinical problem and the effects of this phenomena are widespread and costly both to the financial structure of healthcare and to patient outcomes. A variety of causes have been identified including an unmanageable workload; lack of clarity and low sense of control; lack of respect by managers, patients, physicians and co-workers; inconsistent schedules with consistently long work days; poor communication around critical issues; lack of trust and support; inability to collaborate effectively with coworkers; and many times physical demands that cause injury and are too difficult to perform on a consistent basis. An interesting study investigating nursing turnover as associated with work-related characteristics
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Classified as a correlation study, it examined the data found in the European Nurses’ Early Exit Study which included 9927 nurses of which 345 left their employer during that time. Questionnaires were the method by which data was obtained, which some might argue can only be as good as the questions asked. Others argue the advantage of its practicality as well as the ability to analyze it scientifically and objectively make it the obvious choice of data collection. This research study utilized rating scales which “have the advantage that they do not expect a simple yes / no answer from the respondent, but rather allow for degrees of opinion, and even no opinion at all. Therefore quantitative data is obtained, which means that the data can be analyzed with relative ease” (McLeod, 2008, para. 7). The study excluded nurses younger than 30 as it was felt this would potentially skew results since this age bracket traditionally leave to start families or for education purposes. Also excluded were those nearing retirement age. Work ability was assessed using the Work Ability Index (WAI) which has a reputation of validity and reliability. “The index is determined on the basis of the answers to a series of questions which take into consideration the demands of work, the worker's health status and resources” (Ilmarinen, 2006, p. 160). The psychosocial work-related characteristics were assessed with the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, a modified version of the Swedish Demand-Control questionnaire. These questions covered the aspects of job control, work demands, and social support. The Effort-Reward Imbalance model was used to measure what was perceived as rewards, both financial and emotionally, in equation to efforts made. “The central tenet of the ERI Model is that an imbalance between (high) efforts and (low) rewards leads to (sustained) strain reactions” (Vegchel, Jonge, Bosma, & Schaufeli,
Classified as a correlation study, it examined the data found in the European Nurses’ Early Exit Study which included 9927 nurses of which 345 left their employer during that time. Questionnaires were the method by which data was obtained, which some might argue can only be as good as the questions asked. Others argue the advantage of its practicality as well as the ability to analyze it scientifically and objectively make it the obvious choice of data collection. This research study utilized rating scales which “have the advantage that they do not expect a simple yes / no answer from the respondent, but rather allow for degrees of opinion, and even no opinion at all. Therefore quantitative data is obtained, which means that the data can be analyzed with relative ease” (McLeod, 2008, para. 7). The study excluded nurses younger than 30 as it was felt this would potentially skew results since this age bracket traditionally leave to start families or for education purposes. Also excluded were those nearing retirement age. Work ability was assessed using the Work Ability Index (WAI) which has a reputation of validity and reliability. “The index is determined on the basis of the answers to a series of questions which take into consideration the demands of work, the worker's health status and resources” (Ilmarinen, 2006, p. 160). The psychosocial work-related characteristics were assessed with the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire, a modified version of the Swedish Demand-Control questionnaire. These questions covered the aspects of job control, work demands, and social support. The Effort-Reward Imbalance model was used to measure what was perceived as rewards, both financial and emotionally, in equation to efforts made. “The central tenet of the ERI Model is that an imbalance between (high) efforts and (low) rewards leads to (sustained) strain reactions” (Vegchel, Jonge, Bosma, & Schaufeli,