Related factors influencing Chinese psychiatric nurses' turnover: A cross‐sectional study

Accessible Summary What is known on the subject Because of increasingly stressful, dangerous and unpredictable psychiatric nursing work, psychiatric nurses have experienced higher job stress than general ward nurses. Little is known about the factors that affect the turnover intention of Chinese psychiatric nurses. Understanding the influencing factors of nurses' turnover intention will help to formulate targeted measures to stabilize psychiatric nursing teams. What does this paper add to existing knowledge The results showed that 70.2% of psychiatric nurses had higher turnover intention. The strong turnover intention of Chinese psychiatric nurses is a problem that needs to be considered by managers. The results showed that having more children, between 31 and 39 years old, and having a part‐time job were strongly associated with turnover intention. In addition, “job stress” was also an important factor, psychiatric nurses' turnover intention decreased as their job stress level decreased. What are the implications for practice Nursing managers should pay attention to nurses who have more children, between 31 and 39 years old, and take on part‐time jobs. Additionally, nursing managers should reduce job stress and implement targeted programmes to prevent psychiatric nurses' turnover. Experience‐sharing meetings and mindfulness‐based stress reduction training are also useful to improve the mental health status of psychiatric nurses with great job stress. Nursing managers should arrange human resources and shifts appropriately to give nurses with more children more time with their families. Provide more development opportunities for psychiatric nurses between 31 and 39 years old. Managers explore the reasons why nurses take on part‐time jobs and take targeted interventions (such as increasing income) to reduce the behaviour that happens. Abstract Introduction Nurses' turnover is the main cause of nursing shortages, greatly affected by nurses' intention to leave. Nurses' turnover rate is particularly high in psychiatric wards. Several factors influencing the turnover intention of psychiatric nurses have not been well identified in China, and the association between job stress and turnover intention is still limited. Aims To examine the relationship between job stress and turnover intention and identify the influencing factors of psychiatric nurses' turnover intention. Methods Data were collected from 2355 psychiatric Chinese nurses using a cross‐sectional design with an online questionnaire investigation. Results Psychiatric nurses had higher turnover intention. Significant factors influencing their turnover intention were job stress, having more children, age between 31 and 39 years old, part‐time jobs, education, income and patient‐to‐nurse ratio. Discussion Demographics and job‐related factors should be considered when developing strategies to reduce the turnover intention of psychiatric nurses. Implications for practice Nursing managers should pay attention to nurses with higher job stress levels and different demographic characteristics. Effective measures should be taken to reduce psychiatric nurses' job stress and turnover intention, such as arranging reasonable shifts, implementing targeted family‐friendly policies, increasing their occupational possibilities and promoting mental health.