The importance of social exchange to nurses and nurse assistants: impact on retention factors.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to test the norm of reciprocity by examining relationships between perceived organisational support (POS), the quality of leader-member exchange (LMX) and psychological contract breach (PCB) and important nurse retention factors identified in the literature.

BACKGROUND: A major cause of turnover among nurses is related to unsatisfying workplaces. Previous research, mainly outside the nursing setting, found that social exchange affects employees' work-related attitudes.

METHOD: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 217 nurses and nursing assistants to test and refine a model linking POS, LMX, PCB with job satisfaction, trust and turnover intentions.

RESULTS: Hierarchical multiple linear regression revealed that POS, PCB and LMX explained significant variance in all three retention factors: job satisfaction (adjusted R² = 0.502), trust (adjusted R² = 0.462) and turnover intentions (adjusted R² = 0.196). POS and PCB predicted most strongly job satisfaction (P < 0.001) and trust (P < 0.001 and P < 0.01, respectively). LMX predicted most strongly intention to leave (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION: In our study, POS, the quality of LMX and PCB were strongly related to job satisfaction, trust and turnover intentions.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nursing managers and leaders should recognize the importance of social exchange within their organisation to build trust, satisfy and retain scarce nurses and nursing assistants.