Patient–Nurse Ratio is Related to Nurses’ Intention to Leave Their Job through Mediating Factors of Burnout and Job Dissatisfaction

Yi-Chuan Chen, Yue-Liang Leon Guo, Wei-Shan Chin, Nai-Yun Cheng, Jiune-Jye Ho and Judith Shu-Chu Shiao
Additional contact information
Yi-Chuan Chen: School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University (NTU), No.1, Ren-Ai Rd. Sec. 1, Taipei 10051, Taiwan
Yue-Liang Leon Guo: Department of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University (NTU), No.1, Ren-Ai Rd. Sec. 1, Taipei 10051, Taiwan
Wei-Shan Chin: School of Nursing, College of Nursing, Taipei Medical University (TMU), No. 250, Wuxing St., Taipei 11031, Taiwan
Nai-Yun Cheng: Institute of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health (ILOSH), Ministry of Labor, No. 99, Lane 407, Hengke Rd., New Taipei City 22143, Taiwan
Jiune-Jye Ho: Institute of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health (ILOSH), Ministry of Labor, No. 99, Lane 407, Hengke Rd., New Taipei City 22143, Taiwan
Judith Shu-Chu Shiao: School of Nursing, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University (NTU), No.1, Ren-Ai Rd. Sec. 1, Taipei 10051, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-14

Abstract: In healthcare settings, nurses’ workload, burnout, and job satisfaction are associated to the patient–nurse ratio. Whether this ratio also affects their intention to leave the nursing profession, along with the underlying stress pathway, remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the patient–nurse ratio on nurses’ intention to leave and considering the mediating roles of burnout and job dissatisfaction. The study analyzed the data of two pooled cross-sectional surveys collected in 2013 and 2014. Measures were obtained by a structure questionnaire, which queried the average daily patient–nurse ratio (ADPNR), nurses’ personal burnout, client-related burnout, job dissatisfaction, intention to leave, and other demographics. ADPNRs were standardized according to hospital levels. Multiple regression models examined mediation hypotheses, and a percentile bootstrap confidence interval was applied to determine the significance of indirect effects. A total of 1409 full-time registered nurses in medical and surgical wards of 24 secondary or tertiary hospitals in Taiwan completed self-administered questionnaires. Most of the participants were female (97.2%), and the mean age was 29.9 years. The association between the standardized ADPNR and intention to leave their job was significantly mediated by personal burnout, client-related burnout, and job dissatisfaction. Higher standardized ADPNRs predicted higher levels of personal burnout, client-related burnout, and job dissatisfaction, each of which resulted in higher levels of intention to leave the current job. The results highlight that appropriate patient–nurse ratio standards may be further discussed by selecting personal burnout, client-related burnout, and job dissatisfaction as indicators.

Keywords: burnout; intention to leave; job dissatisfaction; nurse; patient–nurse ratio (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/23/4801/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/23/4801/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:23:p:4801-:d:292358

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().