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An explanation of turnover intention among early-career nursing and allied health professionals working in rural and remote Australia – findings from a grounded theory study

An explanation of turnover intention among early-career nursing and allied health professionals working in rural and remote Australia – findings from a grounded theory study

  • March 22, 2018
  • Cosgrave C, Maple M, Hussain R.

Rural health workforce shortages are a persistent global challenge, and in Australia they are particularly acute in public sector community mental health (CMH) services, where early-career nurses and allied health professionals face some of the most severe and prolonged shortages. This study investigated the employment and rural-living factors that influence turnover intention among early-career CMH professionals in rural New South Wales during their first years of practice. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 26 nursing and allied health professionals. The resulting turnover intention theory offers a whole-of-person explanation, proposing that the decision to stay or leave is shaped by the gap between individuals’ professional and personal expectations and the reality of their current work and living experience. Key findings show that in early adjustment stages, turnover intention is most strongly influenced by professional factors such as job role, workplace relationships, and access to continuing professional development, while personal satisfaction — particularly social connection — becomes the dominant factor once individuals have adapted. A three-level risk matrix for assessing turnover vulnerability was developed from these findings. The authors recommend that health services and governments adopt this whole-of-person framework to develop targeted retention strategies that account for individual life stage and work experience, with the goal of reducing avoidable turnover among rural early-career health professionals.

  • Source: Rural and Remote Health

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Dr. Charlie Labarda

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Charlie Labarda, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Medicine and Dean of the School of Health Sciences at the University of the Philippines Manila (UPM-SHS), where he has taught for more than a decade. He is a regular member of the National research Council of the Philippines, belonging to the Medical Sciences Division (Division III). Before joining the medical faculty at UPM-SHS he trained in at the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the Philippine General Hospital. He finished his PhD in the Department of Psychology at The University of Hong Kong, his Master in Development Management from the Asian Institute of Management (high honors), Doctor of Medicine (cum laude) at the Our Lady of Fatima University-College of Medicine, and his undergraduate Social Sciences studies (cum laude) at UP Tacloban College. He was a topnotcher in the Physician Licensure Examination (8th place).

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His career includes leadership roles as regional director for early childhood development and poverty alleviation in East Africa with the Aga Khan Development Network, founding associate dean of the School of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, dean of the College of Health Sciences at the University of Texas at El Paso, and senior advisor to the provost at New Mexico State University.

 

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