Current status and related factors of turnover intention of primary medical staff in Anhui Province, China: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The shortage of primary medical staff is an important issue in the management of health human resources, and it is also a problem that all countries in the world need to face together. Since 2009, China has implemented a new series of medical system reforms and the shortage and loss of primary medical staff have been alleviated accordingly. However, China has a large population and it is difficult to distribute health human resources evenly across regions. This study aimed to explore the current status of turnover intention and its relationship with psychological capital, social support, and job burnout, as well as how these factors influence turnover intention of primary medical staff in Anhui province, China.

Methods: Using structured questionnaires to collect data, including demographic characteristics, turnover intention, psychological capital, social support, and Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory scale. A total of 1152 primary medical workers of Anhui were investigated. Data were analyzed by t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple linear regression model.

Results: Total scores of turnover intention, psychological capital, social support, and job burnout of subjects were 14.15 ± 4.35, 100.09 ± 15.98, 64.93 ± 13.23 and 41.07 ± 9.437, respectively. Multiple linear regression showed the related factors of turnover intention were age, job position, work unit, and scores of job burnout. Pearson correlation showed psychological capital and social support were negatively correlated with turnover intention, while the score of job burnout was positively correlated with turnover intention.

Conclusion: The improvement of psychological capital and social support and the reduction of job burnout may play an important role in reducing turnover intention of primary medical staff. Primary medical managers should strengthen the humanistic care for primary medical staff, optimize the incentive mechanism, and improve internal management of medical institutions for stability.

Keywords: Job burnout; Primary medical staff; Psychological capital; Social support; Turnover intention.