Well‐being, turnover intention, and stigma attitudes of mental health transition‐to‐practice nurses: A cross‐sectional study

Abstract

There is global recognition that mental health nursing can be stressful and have detrimental effects on nurses' well‐being and retention. With substantial nursing shortages, there is an urgent need to attract and retain nurses to sustain this workforce and provide effective mental healthcare. Mental health transition programs provide vital recruitment pathways and support novice registered nurses, enrolled nurses and experienced registered generalist nurses moving into this field. There is little evidence, however, on the well‐being, resilience, and retention of nurses transitioning into mental health. The primary aims for this cross‐sectional study were to describe demographic characteristics, perceived stress, well‐being, resilience, mental illness stigma attitudes, work satisfaction, and turnover intention of four nurse cohorts entering mental health transition programs: generalist registered nurses, graduate and post‐graduate registered nurses, and enrolled nurses; to explore relationships between these variables; and explore differences between these four nurse cohorts. Findings (n = 87) included overall moderate perceived stress, moderate well‐being and resilience, high work satisfaction, low stigma, and low turnover intention. Higher turnover intention was associated with lower age and work satisfaction, and higher perceived stress. Generalist RNs had significantly higher stress and stigmatizing attitudes than Enrolled Nurses. Secondary analysis of well‐being scores identified 14 nurses with scores indicating depression, with significantly lower resilience and work satisfaction, and significantly higher stress than the rest of the sample. To help prevent attrition, it is vital that mental health services provide tailored well‐being initiatives during transition and intervene early to provide support for nurses with mental distress.