Association Between Career Adaptability and Turnover Intention Among Nursing Assistants: the Mediating Role of Psychological Capital

Overview

Journal BMC Nurs

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2023 Feb 3

PMID 36732804

Authors

Changxian Sun

Yurong Xing

Yuting Wen

Xia Wan

Yaping Ding

Yan Cui

Wenhui Xu

Xiaoxiao Wang

Hongling Xia

Qian Zhang

Min Yuan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: High turnover intention of nursing assistants was detrimental to the sustainability of long-term care. Career adaptability is an important determinant in reducing turnover intention, but little research has explored the mechanism from the perspective of psychological capital. The aim of this study was to analyze the association between career adaptability and turnover intention and to examine the mediating role of psychological capital between career adaptability and turnover intention among nursing assistants in mainland China.

Methods: A cross-sectional online study was conducted among 276 nursing assistants from eight nursing homes in Nanjing, China. The participants' career adaptability, psychological capital, and turnover intention were obtained. SPSS 26.0 and Amos 24.0 software were employed for statistical analysis.

Results: Career adaptability was positively related to psychological capital and negatively linked to turnover intention (P < 0.01). Psychological capital played a fully mediating role (β = -0.085, P < 0.05) in the relationship between career adaptability and turnover intention, and the largest indirect effect was generated through the curiosity dimension.

Conclusions: The management of long-term care facilities should focus on assessing the level of career adaptability of nursing assistants. The overall improvement of career adaptability and psychological capital is conducive in reducing turnover intention. Targeted interventions are recommended to improve career adaptability and reduce turnover intentions by increasing career curiosity. Online career adaptability programs can be developed for nursing assistant students to improve their psychological capital and facilitate career transitions.

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