Effects of work-life balance on the turnover intention of nurses compared to paid female workers

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The purpose of this study is to highlight the work-life balance issues of nurses compared to paid female workers, and to analyze the impact of work-life conflicts on job turnover intentions. Methods/Statistical analysis: Survey data for hospital nurses and large-scale national surveys are used for analysis. The level of work-life balance of nurses is compared with that of full-time paid female workers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis with controlled covariates is performed by nurse group and paid female worker group, respectively. Findings: The turnover intention of the respondents is 67.1% among the nurses and 2.8% of the paid female workers. Work-life conflict level is higher in nurses than in paid female workers. As a result of multivariate logistic regression analysis, paid female workers increase their turnover intentions by the following two factors: (1) a low level of positive impact on work and (2) a low level of positive impact on work. In addition to (1) and (2), the following (3) factors increase the turnover intention of the nurse: (3) a high level of negative impact on work. The possible explanation for the result is that the turnover intention of the nurse is indirectly influenced by a small positive influence between work and family, and it is directly influenced by the negative influence between work and family. Improvements/Applications: The results provide a clue that it is possible to improve nurses’ turnover intention through work-life reconciliation, which is an unknown factor affecting nurses’ turnover intention.