Abstract:
Background. The desire to care for people, a family history of professional health
care work, and security in career choice are documented reasons for entering nursing.
Reasons for leaving include workload, unsafe work environments and harassment.
The relationship between these factors and the time nurses spend in the
profession has not been explored.
Aim. This paper reports a study with people who have left nursing, to investigate
why they became a nurse, how long they stayed in nursing, and their reasons for
leaving.
Method. A questionnaire was mailed to Registered Nurses currently working outside
nursing, seeking respondents' reasons for entering and leaving nursing, and
perceptions of the skills gained from nursing and the ease of adjustment to working
in a non-nursing environment. Data analysis included descriptive statistics,
exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlational analysis and linear and
multiple regression analysis.
Results. A model incorporating the factors 'altruistic reasons', 'default choice' and
'stepping stone' explained 36·2% of the variance in reasons for becoming a nurse. A
model incorporating the factors 'legal and employer', 'external values and beliefs
about nursing', 'professional practice', 'work lifelhome life' and 'contract requirements'
explained 55·4% of the variance in reasons for leaving nursing. Forty-eight
per cent of the variance in tenure in nursing practice was explained through personal
characteristics of nurses (36%), reasons for becoming a nurse (7%) and reasons for
leaving (6%).
Conclusion. The reasons why nurses entered or left the profession were varied and
complex. While personal characteristics accounted for a large component of tenure
in nursing, those managing the nursing workforce should consider professional
practice issues and the balance between work life and home life.
