Which Aspects of Professional Commitment Can Effectively Retain Nurses in the Nursing Profession?
PURPOSE
This study examined which aspects of professional commitment can effectively retain nurses in the nursing profession.


DESIGN, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS
This study used a longitudinal design, simple random sampling, and two-wave data collection to survey and follow up a representative sample of 579 nurses for 1 year in a major medical center in northern Taiwan.


METHODS
Items measuring each aspect of professional commitment came from Meyer et al.'s scale. In the second wave, administrative data were culled to determine whether these nurses remain employed as nurses. Structural equation modeling is used to analyze the data.


RESULTS
Analytical results indicate that continuance commitment predicts nurse retention in the nursing profession (path coefficient = 0.34, p < .01).


CONCLUSIONS
Institutional efforts to improve continuance commitment (e.g., improved salary structures and enhanced professional development opportunities) likely retain nurses in the nursing profession.


CLINICAL RELEVANCE
The findings of this study indicate the importance of continuance intention in retaining nurses. Nursing managers who face staff retention issues may consider making efforts to improve nurse salary and employer-sponsored benefits.
['Chang|Hao-Yuan|HY|', 'Shyu|Yea-Ing Lotus|YI|', 'Wong|May-Kuen|MK|', 'Friesner|Daniel|D|', 'Chu|Tsung-Lan|TL|', 'Teng|Ching-I|CI|']
D000328:Adult D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007588:Job Satisfaction D008137:Longitudinal Studies D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009042:Motivation D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital D010558:Personnel Loyalty D010563:Personnel Turnover D011361:Professional Competence D011594:Psychometrics D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D013624:Taiwan D055815:Young Adult
professional commitment continuance commitment nurse retention Affective commitment normative commitment