Gender Differences in the Interrelationships Among Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Intention to Leave Among Hospital Nurses in Taiwan

Lo, Wen-Yen

Purpose:

Few studies have compared gender differences in job stress, job satisfaction, and intention to leave among nurses. There is little understanding about the interrelationships among job stress, job satisfaction, and intention to leave among nurses. The objective of this study was to examine gender differences in interrelationships of job stress, job satisfaction, and intention to leave among hospital nurses in Taiwan.

Methods:

This cross-sectional survey included 33475 full-time nurses (584 males and 32891 females) working in 100 hospitals across Taiwan. The participants filled up a self-administered structured questionnaire during the period of May to July, 2011. Intention to leave and job satisfaction was each measured by one item with a 5-point Likert scale. Job stress was measured by a 19-item scale, with higher scores indicating more job stress.

Results:

Female nurses had significantly higher mean job stress than male nurses (33.61 vs 28.09, p£¼0.01). There were no significant differences in mean level of job satisfaction (2.51 vs 2.50, p©ƒ0.05) and intention to leave (2.91 vs 2.91 , p©ƒ0.05) between males and females. The structural equation modeling results suggested that job stress had a direct and negative effect on job satisfaction (standardized factor loading = -0.41 , t = -68.26, p£¼0.01, r² = 0.18). Job satisfaction had a direct and negative effect on intention to leave (standardized factor loading = -0.42 , t = -84.19, p£¼0.01, r² = 0.14). Job stress had a direct and positive effect on intention to leave (standardized factor loading = 0.25 , t = 45.43, p£¼0.01, r² = 0.22). The negative effect of job satisfaction on intention to leave appeared to be stronger among females (standardized factor loading = -0.42) than males (standardized factor loading = -0.33; p£¼0.05). The model had good fit to the data (RMSEA = 0.046, CFI = 0.99, NFI = 0.99, SRMR = 0.019).

Conclusion:

Job satisfaction is a mediator between job stress and intention to leave among nurses. Strategies should be developed to decrease job stress and increase job satisfaction in order to decrease nurse turnover. Special emphasis could be placed on job satisfaction among female nurses.