Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention in Healthcare Settings

Job satisfaction in healthcare encompasses the extent to which professionals feel fulfilment, reward and recognition in their roles, while turnover intention describes the conscious inclination to leave one’s post. These phenomena are interdependent: low satisfaction frequently precedes thoughts of departure, undermining workforce stability. Key determinants include professional identity, work stress, remuneration, career development opportunities and psychosocial factors such as support from colleagues and managers. Burnout—characterised by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and reduced personal accomplishment—acts as both outcome and mediator, eroding satisfaction and fuelling turnover intentions. Presenteeism, whereby staff attend work despite ill health or low engagement, further compounds the cycle by diminishing performance and well-being. Across settings from primary care to tertiary hospitals, interventions that bolster psychological capital, optimise working conditions and foster resilience have demonstrated promise in sustaining engagement, reducing burnout and ultimately curbing turnover risk.

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Job Satisfaction and Turnover Intention in Healthcare Settings publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in job satisfaction and turnover intention in healthcare settings across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Job satisfaction: The overall contentment and positive emotional state resulting from appraisal of one’s job or job experiences.

Turnover intention: The conscious and deliberate willingness of employees to leave their current position or organisation.

Burnout: A multidimensional syndrome comprising emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation and diminished personal accomplishment caused by chronic workplace stress.

Presenteeism: The phenomenon of attending work despite illness or low engagement, often leading to reduced productivity and well-being.

Psychological capital: A composite of an individual’s positive psychological resources, including self-efficacy, optimism, hope and resilience.

References

1. Social support, psychological capital, multidimensional job burnout, and turnover intention of primary medical staff: a path analysis drawing on conservation of resources theory. Human Resources for Health (2024).
2. The mediating role of job satisfaction and presenteeism on the relationship between job stress and turnover intention among primary health care workers. International Journal for Equity in Health (2023).
3. Job satisfaction, burnout, and turnover intention among primary care providers in rural China: results from structural equation modeling. BMC Primary Care (2020).