The effect of hospital safety climate on nurses' turnover intention: the mediating role of work engagement

Background Nurses are vital in addressing global healthcare workforce shortages. The shortage of nurses and high turnover rates are concerned with the quality of care. To further explore the mechanisms underlying nurse turnover, this study focuses on the mediating role of work engagement, examining the relationship between hospital safety climate, work engagement, and turnover intention. Methods This was a cross-sectional research design of nurses in hospitals in Guangdong Province using a convenience sampling method. General information survey, hospital safety climate scale, work engagement scale, and turnover intention scale were adopted. The obtained data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and the mediating effect of work engagement was tested through the PROCESS macro mediation model in SPSS. Results The hospital safety climate was positively correlated with work engagement ( r = 0.549, P 0.01), and negatively correlated with turnover intention ( r = −0.324, P 0.01). Work engagement was negatively correlated with turnover intention ( r = −0.400, P 0.01). The mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between hospital safety climate and turnover intention has been demonstrated. The mediating effect is significant, with a value of−0.175, representing 53.77% of the total effect. Conclusions The turnover intention of nurses in Guangdong Province is high. Work engagement plays a partial mediating role between hospital safety climate and turnover intention among nurses. This study further enriches JD-R theory and new ideas for nurse managers to take measures to stabilize the nursing workforce and reduce turnover.