Relationship between job satisfaction, absence from work and turnover among nurses

Background and Purpose: Absence from work, quitting job and turnover of nursing staff put a great burden on any health care system in terms of hiring, training and maintaining nurses. Studies suggest that those with higher job satisfaction are less likely to state being sick and indicate that there is a relationship between the nurses’ job satisfaction and their tendency to quit or ask for a turn over. The study aims to determine the rate of absence from work and turnover among a group of nurses employed by a medical university in Tehran, Iran and to find any significant relationship between these factors and nurses’ job satisfaction.

Methods: 610 nurses with a master degree in nursing working at internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology wards, and intensive care unit (ICU) were enrolled. Data was gathered using the “Minnesota’s Job Satisfaction Questionnaire”.

Results: There were significant relationship between job satisfaction and 10 or more days of sick leave (ρ<0.047), times of having been reprimanded (ρ< 0.003), having been blamed due to choosing nursing as a career (ρ<0.031), the person who has blamed them (ρ<0.001), teamwork dividing method (ρ<0.001), spouse’s job (ρ<0.05), and the reason for turnover (ρ<0.006). There was also a significant relationship between worklife quality and job satisfaction (ρ<0.000).

Conclusion: Since there are significant relationships between some of the factors affecting job satisfaction and the rate of nurses’ absences and turnovers, it is advised that the management pay substantial attention to improving these conditions in order to increase the efficacy of staff and therefore increase the patients’ satisfaction and ensure the highest quality of service.