Predictors for changing to a non-nursing profession

Abstract

Background: Nurses’ predisposition to change their profession lies within the scope of nurse turnover. Understanding the reasons why nurses want to switch to another organization or even leave the profession is important because this movement has a negative impact on the workgroup and the organization. Objective: To determine the propensity to leave the nursing profession. Methodology: Descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional, and quantitative study. The non-probability sample of 463 nurses was recruited through the snowball method. Results: The nurses who were under the age of 40 and worked in the public sector were more willing to leave the nursing profession. The greater the satisfaction with the profession and the greater the professional autonomy and recognition, the lower the nurses’ probability to change to another profession. Conclusions: Health organizations should concentrate on retaining their nurses by adopting human resource strategies that value them and organizational models focused on motivation and satisfaction.