Mixed method research investigating turnover intension with icu nurses

Purpose: This study was done to investigate the mediating effect of occupational stress on the relationship between ICU nurse's authentic leadership and turnover intention, and to analyze the causes of turnover in ICU nurses. Methods: A convergent mixed method was used. Participants were 100 out of 207 ICU nurses in the original data that were acquired in Daegu, Ulsan, and Busan, in February and March 2017. Participants were asked with open-ended question: "what are the causes for turnover intention"and summative content analysis and thematic analysis were done. Results: The mean scores for authentic leadership, occupational stress, and turnover intention were 3.09, 43.74, and 45.66, respectively. Occupational stress showed full mediation in the relationship between authentic leadership and turnover intention. The qualitative data showed that the most causes of turnover intention were in the organization (60.6%) instead of individuals (39.4%). Conclusion: Authentic leadership influenced the ICU nurse's turnover intention via the full mediating effect of occupational stress. The 'organization-oriented variables' play a more important role than 'individual-oriented variables' in the reduction of the turnover intention of ICU nurses. The findings from this study may be useful in reducing turnover intention.