Despite ongoing nursing retention efforts, the national turnover rate continues to climb as high as 21% annually. Creating a climate that supports retention is among the many responsibilities of first line nurse manager. This task is challenged by the presence of multigenerational nursing workforce. Nurses from different age cohorts come to the work environment with different set of professional and generational (terminal and instrumental) values. Values are enduring beliefs about what constitutes desirable and acceptable behavior; values play a fundamental role in both decision making and meaning formation processes. Nursing literature suggested that nurses from different age cohorts may perceive aspects of their unit environment (e.g. nurse managers' leadership style and climate) differently. However, the current literature lacks of empirical data to support this assumption, as well as the proposed influence of values on nurses' behaviors (e.g. turnover intentions).
Therefore, the main purposes for the study were to describe and compare values (professional and generational) among nurses from different age cohorts, and to examine the direct, indirect, and total effects of nurses' work environment and values on nurses' turnover intentions. Maehr and Breskamp's Personal Investment Theory (PIT) guided the study. To answer the study research questions a cross sectional descriptive correlational study was conducted in three non-magnet community hospitals. The study sample comprised of 429 conveniently selected RNs, who met the study inclusion criteria and voluntarily completed the study survey. The data collection period lasted from March 15, 2007 to June 15, 2007. To answer the study research questions descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and path analyses were conducted.
In contrary to what was assumed, with the exception of the two climate dimensions (warmth and belonging and administrative support), the study results did not show any statistical significance differences between the examined age groups (Silent and Boomers vs. Gen-Xers and Millennials) in their generational values and their perceptions to their nurse managers' leadership style. In consistence with what was hypnotized nurses did not differ in their professional values. The overall turnover model explained about 29% of the variance on nurses' intent to leave. The study was the first nursing study to examine nurses' values both professional and generational and compare them between nurses from different age cohorts. The results of the study present empirical evidence to disprove the idea of generational value differences.