Critical care nurses’ intention to leave and related factors: Survey results from 5 European countries

Objectives

To determine the nursing intention to leave in critical care units and explore related factors along with work environment and sociodemographic variables.

Design and setting

Quantitative cross-sectional study in five European countries (Spain, Poland, Croatia, Cyprus and Romania) through a self-administered survey in 2021.

Methods

The “AACN Critical elements of a healthy work environment scale. National Survey of Critical-Care Nurse Work Environments” by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses was distributed to all nurses working in intensive care units through a convenience sampling method. The questionnaire included questions about healthy work environment, burnout, violence, intention to leave and sociodemographics.

Results

1033 responses were analysed. Participants from each country varied between 75 and 275 nurses. Mean age was 37.3 years old (SD 9.9) with a mean nursing experience in critical care of 10.8 (9.2) years. Despite 83.1 % of the nurses were satisfied with their current job, 22.8 % planned to leave their position. Intention to leave was independently associated with the country, gender, age, satisfaction with current job and frequency of moral distress (p < 0.05) along with several work-related variables, such as lower perception of a healthy work environment. Among the reasons to reconsider leaving the job, the most rated were higher salary and benefits (87.2 %), better staffing (85.3 %) and meaningful recognition (82 %). Conversely, the most relevant reasons that kept nurses working in their organisation, were salary and benefits and the people they work with.

Conclusion

Almost one out of three critical care nurses are considering leaving their job. Many aspects of the work environment that influence the intention to leave are modifiable.

Implications for clinical practice

Managers need to prioritise the retention of registered nurses, not only recruiting new personnel. Many aspects of the working environment need to be addressed in other to retain critical care nurses.