The effect of inclusive leadership on turnover intention of intensive care unit nurses: the mediating role of organization-based self-esteem and interactional justice.

Background: Intensive Care Unit nurses are related to the medical quality and life outcome of critically ill patients. In the context of nurse shortage, it is of great significance to reduce the turnover intention of Intensive Care Unit nurses. Inclusive Leadership, organizational-based self-esteem and Interactional Justice are important factors affecting the turnover intention of Intensive Care Unit nurses. However, for the special group of Intensive Care Unit nurses, there are few studies that explore the associations between these factors. This study explores the effect of inclusive leadership on the turnover intention of Intensive Care Unit nurses and the potential mediation through organizational-based self-esteem and interactional justice.

Method: A cross-sectional study design was used to investigate 460 Intensive Care Unit nurses in 4 general hospitals in northern China. The scales used in this study include the inclusive leadership scale, the organization-based self-esteem scale, the interactional justice scale and the turnover intention scale. SPSS 27.0 was used for descriptive analysis and Pearson correlation analysis. AMOS 25.0 was used to construct structural equation model and Bootstrap test.

Results: The results showed that the turnover intention of Intensive Care Unit nurses was higher (2.05 ± 0.67). Inclusive leadership had a negative predictive effect on turnover intention (β=-0.27, P < 0.001), and organizational-based self-esteem and interactional justice played a chain mediating role in the relationship between them (β=-0.051, P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Inclusive leadership is significantly related to the turnover intention of Intensive Care Unit nurses, and organizational-based self-esteem and interactional justice play a chain mediating role between the two. When medical institutions and nursing managers intervene to reduce the turnover intention of Intensive Care Unit nurses, they should not only focus on inclusive leadership but also consider the impact of organizational-based self-esteem and interactional justice on turnover intention, in order to develop effective talent retention strategies.