The Influence of Professional Identity, Job Satisfaction, and Work Engagement on Turnover Intention among Township Health Inspectors in China

Wenjie Zhang, Hongdao Meng, Shujuan Yang and Danping Liu
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Wenjie Zhang: Department of Health and Social Behavior, School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
Hongdao Meng: School of Aging Studies, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
Shujuan Yang: Department of Health and Social Behavior, School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
Danping Liu: Department of Health and Social Behavior, School of Public Health, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Health inspectors are part of the public health workforce in China, and its shortage has been identified as an urgent priority that should be addressed. Turnover is one of the main contributors to the shortage problem. This research assessed the influence of professional identity, job satisfaction and work engagement on turnover intention of township health inspectors and explored the intermediary effect of job satisfaction and work engagement between professional identity and turnover intention among township health inspectors in China. Data were collected from 2426 township health inspectors in Sichuan Province, China. We used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the hypothesized relationship among the variables. Results showed that a total of 11.3% of participants had a high turnover intention and 34.0% of participants had a medium turnover intention. Job satisfaction had a direct negative effect on turnover intention (β = −0.38, p < 0.001), work engagement had a direct negative effect on turnover intention (β = −0.13, p < 0.001), and professional identity had an indirect negative effect on turnover intention through the mediating effect of job satisfaction and work engagement. Our results strongly confirmed that professional identity, job satisfaction and work engagement were strong predicators of turnover intention. According to the results, desirable work environment, quality facilities, fair compensation and adequate advancement opportunities should be emphasized to improve job satisfaction. The turnover intention of health inspectors could be reduced through improving professional identity, enhancing job satisfaction and work engagement.

Keywords: public health workforce; health inspectors; turnover intention; job satisfaction; professional identity; work engagement; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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