Nurses' motivations to leave the nursing profession: A qualitative meta‐aggregation

AIM: To systematically provide an overview of the qualitative evidence available on the motivations for nurses to leave the nursing profession. DESIGN: A qualitative systematic review using the meta-aggregation design of the Joanna Briggs Institute. DATA SOURCES: Qualitative studies in English, dating from 2010 until January 2023, were obtained from CINAHL, PsycINFO and PubMed. REVIEW METHODS: Studies were selected using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Quality assessment was done using the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for Qualitative Research. The assessment of confidence in the review findings was done according to the ConQual approach. RESULTS: Nine papers that investigated nurses' motivations to leave the profession were included. We developed four synthesized findings from 11 synthesized categories and 31 categories to reflect nurses' motivations to leave the profession, including (1) challenging work environment, (2) emotional distress, (3) disappointment about nursing reality, and (4) culture of hierarchy and discrimination. CONCLUSION: This review provides an in-depth and meaningful understanding of motivations for nurses to leave the profession. Among others, poor working conditions, a lack of opportunities for career development, a lack of support from managers, work-related stress, a discrepancy between nursing education and practice and bullying behaviour were motivations to leave the profession, which calls for targeted action to retain nurses in the profession. IMPACT: Findings of this study shine a light on reasons why nurses leave the profession, providing evidence to support nurse managers and policymakers to develop retention strategies to move out of current crisis into recovery of sustainable global healthcare. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: There was no direct patient or caregiver contribution to this study because this study originated from the process of a Master study. However, two of the authors are still involved in clinical nursing practice and provided the necessary link between research and practice.