Magnitude of turnover intention and associated factors among nurses working in emergency departments of governmental hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a cross-sectional institutional based study

Background Turnover intention is a probability of an employee to leave the current institution within a certain period due to various factors. It is the strongest predictor of actual turnover expected to increase as the intention increases. Emergency Department (ED) nurses are especially vulnerable to high turnover because of their increased risk of developing burnout and compassion fatigue associated with the work environment. This study is aimed to assess nurses' intention to leave emergency departments and associated factors at selected governmental hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods Institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted on 102 nurses in three selected governmental hospitals, Addis Ababa from February 19 to March 31, 2018, using a structured pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. The logistic regression model was used and an adjusted odds ratio with a 95% confidence interval was calculated to identify associated factors. Result A total of 102 respondents were involved with a response rate of 91.1%. Among them, 79 (77.5%) respondents had the intention to leave the current working unit of the emergency department or hospital. Significant predictive factors of nurses' intention to leave their institutions are educational status (adjusted odds ratio (OR) =4.700, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.033-50.772;p < 0.048), monthly income of less than 3145 Birr (adjusted OR = 6.05, 95% CI = 1.056-34.641;p < 0.043) and professional autonomy (adjusted OR = 0.191, 95% CI = 0.040-0.908;p < 0.037). Conclusion More than 77% of the respondents have the intention to leave their current working place of the emergency unit. Educational status, monthly income, and autonomy were significantly associated with emergency nurses' turnover intention in three governmental hospitals. Emergency leaders and hospital managers should have made efforts to enhance nurses' decision making for patient care activities and shared decision overwork or unit related activities.