The Relationship Between Work Environment Satisfaction and Retention Intention Among Nursing Administrators in Taiwan

BACKGROUND: Nursing administrators are essential to ensuring the quality of healthcare provided in hospitals. The nursing manpower shortage that has affected hospitals in Taiwan over the past decade has weighed particularly heavily on nursing administrators, who are expected to maintain high levels of nursing care quality in frequently understaffed healthcare settings. PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between work environment satisfaction and nursing administrator retention in Taiwan. METHODS: This study used a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey to collect data from a sample population of nursing administrators. A set of indicators of quality nursing work environments was developed and included in the questionnaire. A total of 1,829 questionnaires were distributed, and the effective response rate was 95.57%. RESULTS: The average overall rate of satisfaction with the current work environment across all domains was 3.59 (SD = 0.61). The highest level of satisfaction was found in the domain of safe practice environment (M = 3.83, SD = 0.70), and the lowest was found in the domain of informatics (M = 3.38, SD = 0.91). Length of administrative position tenure was significantly correlated with retention. Each of the eight domains significantly influenced retention. The domain of support and caring was the most significant predictor of nursing administrator retention. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Length of administrator position tenure was significantly correlated with nursing administrator retention. Moreover, intention to stay among junior administrators was particularly affected by the support and caring domain. Therefore, it is recommended that nursing departments develop effective strategies to assist and encourage junior administrators to strengthen their career prospects and satisfaction.