The Tendency to Leave Nursing Profession and Some Related Factors at the Therapeutic and Educational Centers of Qom City, (Iran)

Background and Objectives: The tendency to leave nursing profession can exacerbate the shortage of nursing workforce and ultimately will have negative effects on the quality of health care provision. The aim of this study was to determine the tendency to leave nursing profession at the therapeutic and educational centers of Qom city. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on nurses working in therapeutic and educational centers affiliated to Qom University of Medical Sciences. After preparation of the list of nurses, 207 nurses were selected by simple random sampling method from 6 therapeutic and educational centers. First, the participants completed the demographic information questionnaire, then, the tendency to leave nursing profession was assessed as one question. Descriptive statistical indexes and multivariate logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results: The tendency to leave nursing profession among the participants was 54.6%. The rate of tendency to leave nursing profession among male nurses was 2.5 times higher than that of females (OR: 2.55, 95% CI: 1.03-6.31). Moreover, multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that working in the fix morning shift in internal-surgical ward, having less than 10 years of work experience, and having overtime significantly increases the tendency to leave nursing profession. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the present study, tendency to leave nursing profession in therapeutic and educational centers of Qom city is significant; therefore, given the variables affecting the increase of this phenomenon among nurses, a comprehensive program should be designed to improve this variable and its consequences