In today’s unpredictable environment, the rapid emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken the world and its healthcare infrastructure immensely. As nurses are the building blocks of the healthcare personnel labor market, organizations should develop tactics that aid in their retention. With a solid theoretical foundation in self-determination theory, this study aims to understand the role of employee engagement in keeping nurses in 51 hospitals in the Northern Indian region, along with the mediation of organizational culture through smart PLS. In a complementary mediation relationship with organizational culture, nurse retention is positively correlated with employee engagement.

Human resource professionals design and implement various strategies to retain the workforce within an organization. One of the strategies called “employer branding,” has recently gripped their focus. Its role has been highlighted in this study in order to determine the retention of nurses in the organization and to investigate the mediation of organizational culture and career development using social identity theory as a theoretical foundation. For this purpose, a sample of 628 nurse respondents bearing different designations from different departments of private hospitals in northern India was included to test the hypothesis using a structured questionnaire. The impact was examined using structural equations through Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modelling. The findings showed a positive effect of employer branding on retention and the existence of a complementary mediation relationship when organizational culture and career development were included as mediators. This study is beneficial for human resource professionals and the healthcare sector as it promotes the idea of staff retention which is a significant challenge today.