The Influence of the Gap between Career Needs and Career Development Programs of Nurses on Turnover Intention: The Mediating Effect of Job Satisfaction

The purpose of this research is to explore the relationship among the gap between career needs and career development programs, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. First, the nursing career is divided into four stages: exploration stage, establishment stage, maintenance stage, and disengagement stage. We then create scales measuring career needs and career development programs for nurses in each stage. We also use structural equation modeling to test the relationships among the gap between career needs and career development programs, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. The analysis shows that the gap between career needs and career development programs reduces job satisfaction, which indicates that hospitals should pay attention to the career needs of nurses. If career development programs are well planned by hospitals and satisfy the career needs of nurses, nurses will have lower turnover intention, with positive effects to the hospitals.