Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1393024
This article is part of the Research Topic Mental Health Services for Occupational Trauma: Decreasing Stigma and Increasing Access, Volume 2 View all articles

A systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of social support on turnover intention in clinical nurses

Provisionally accepted
Yan Chen Yan Chen 1*Xiang Zhou Xiang Zhou 2*Xue Bai Xue Bai 1*Beibei Liu Beibei Liu 1*Fengzhi Chen Fengzhi Chen 1*Lixia Chang Lixia Chang 1*Hongli Liu Hongli Liu 1*
  • 1 Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
  • 2 School of Sociology and Political Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Nurse turnover has become a salient issue in healthcare system worldwide and seriously compromises patient outcomes. Social support is considered an effective contributor to alleviate nurse turnover intention (TI). However, the degree of correlation between social support and nurse TI remains elusive. Aims: This study aims to evaluate the strength of the effectiveness of social support on TI among nurses as well as its potential moderators. Design: This systematic review and meta-analysis followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Methods: To obtained qualified studies, two researchers searched Embase, PubMed, Web of science, CINAHL, CNKI, WanFang, and Chinese Medical Journal Full Text Database from inception to January 6, 2024. Meta-analysis, publication bias, and sensitivity analysis were carried out on the included studies using CMA 3.0 software, and the moderating effect was verified through meta-analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results: A total of 38 studies were obtained, involving 63,989 clinical nurses. The comprehensive effect size of the random effect model showed a significant medium negative correlation between social support and TI among nurses (p < 0.001). The sample size and TI measurement tools significantly moderated the correlation between social support and TI. (p < 0.050). However, nurse department, gender, data collection time, and social support measurement tools did not moderate the correlation between the two variables. Conclusion: Social support is negatively associated with TI in nurses. Nursing administrators and the medical community should fully recognize the importance of social support for nurses and take corresponding measures to enhance it, thereby reducing TI and ensuring the stability of the nursing team.

    Keywords: Meta-analysis, moderators, Nurses, social support, Turnover intention (TI)

    Received: 28 Feb 2024; Accepted: 17 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chen, Zhou, Bai, Liu, Chen, Chang and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Yan Chen, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
    Xiang Zhou, School of Sociology and Political Science, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China, Shanghai, China
    Xue Bai, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
    Beibei Liu, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
    Fengzhi Chen, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
    Lixia Chang, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China
    Hongli Liu, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.