Analysis on the relationship between professional identity and turnover intention among general practitioners: The mediating role of job burnout

Objective: We aimed to understand the current situation and contributory factors associated with professional identity, turnover intention and job burnout among general practitioners (GPs) in eastern, central and western China. Methods: A total of 3244 GPs from community health service institutions in 12 provinces of China were recruited, from October 2017 to February 2018. Demographic information such as sex, region and mode of employment was sought, and issues regarding job burnout, professional identity and turnover intention of GPs were measured with the corresponding scale, and softwares such as SPSS and AMOS were used. T-test, analysis of variance, and covariance matrix were used for analysis. Results: The average total scores of job burnout, turnover intention and professional identity of GPs in China were 44.12, 15.07 and 51.23, respectively. The results of intermediary effect analysis showed that in the GPs group, there were differences in the distribution of the three indicators. Professional identity had a significant negative effect on job burnout (& beta; = -0.373), while job burnout had a significant positive effect on turnover intention (& beta; = 0.528), and job burnout had an indirect effect in the relationship between professional identity and turnover intention. Job burnout played an intermediary role in professional identity and turnover intention. Conclusions: The turnover intention of GPs in China has improved, but it is still at a high level. Job burnout plays an intermediary role between professional identity and turnover intention.