Turnover prevention: The direct and indirect association between organizational job stressors, negative emotions and professional commitment in novice nurses

Aims: Getting insight in the most crucial organizational job stressors for novice nurses' professional commitment and whether the job stressors are mediated through negative emotions.

Design: The study used an observational cohort design.

Methods: Organizational job stressors were derived from 580 diary entries by 18 novice nurses combined with measures on emotions and commitment. The diaries were collected from September 2013-September 2014.

Results: Path modelling revealed that lack of support from colleagues, negative experiences with patients and confrontations with existential events were most strongly negatively related to professional commitment through negative emotions. Other indirectly and negatively related organizational job stressors to commitment were complexity of care, lack of control and work-life imbalance; only conflicting job demands, and lack of control related to professional commitment directly.

Conclusion(s): To enhance professional commitment, it is important to reduce negative emotions in novice nurses by collegial support in dealing with negative experiences with patients, complexity of care and existential events and to prevent lack of control and an imbalance between private life and work. Nurse supervisors and managers can encourage nurses to share negative patient experiences, issues related to complexity of care and existential events.

Impact: Considering the worldwide nursing shortage and early turnover, more understanding is needed about how negative emotions mediate the relationship between organizational negative job stressors and professional commitment and the relative impact of organizational job stressors to professional commitment. The study stresses the importance of a supportive role of supervisors and nurse managers to improve the work environment and hence increase novice nurses' commitment and retention.