Investigating the relationship between organizational justice, job satisfaction, and intention to leave the nursing profession: A cross-sectional study

Aims This study aims to test a hypothetical model linking various dimensions of organizational justice to the job satisfaction and nurses' intention to leave the profession based on the theoretical assumptions of the Alexander model of voluntary turnover. Design A cross-sectional survey. Methods This study was conducted on 317 inpatient ward nurses of six teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran during 1 September 2017-14 November 2018. Clinical nurses were recruited by a multistage random sampling. Data were collected using structured questionnaires of organizational justice, job satisfaction, and nurses' intention to leave. Data were analysed by structural equation modelling using Amos 22 statistical program. Results The structural equation model demonstrated adequate fit and the hypothesized correlations were partially supported. The findings suggested that the distributive justice (p beta = 0.24) and interactional justice (p beta = 0.44) could indirectly affect the nurses' intention to leave the nursing profession via the direct impact on job satisfaction, while job satisfaction had a significant, negative effect on the nurses' intention to leave (p beta = -0.71). Conclusions According to the results, the model fit was acceptable, suggesting the validity of the final model. Furthermore, distributive and interactional justice could reduce the intention to leave the nursing profession by influencing the job satisfaction of the clinical nurses. Impact This was one of the first studies to determine the aspects of justice that must be further emphasized by healthcare managers to increase the job satisfaction of nurses and their retention in healthcare systems. The findings indicated that fair interactions have a greater impact on job satisfaction and retention of nurses than procedural and distributive justice. The results of this study provide valuable references for nursing managers to increase the job satisfaction of nurses and their retention in healthcare settings.