The relationships between collectivist orientation, perception of practice environment, organizational commitment, and intention to leave current job among Asian nurses working in the U.S.

Estimates indicate that Asian nurses have become the majority of international registered nurses (RNs) working in U.S. Studies have shown that differences in values exist between members of collectivistic cultures, such as those in Asian countries, and members of individualistic cultures, such as those in most Western countries. The purpose of this study was to understand factors related to turnover among Asian RNs working in the U.S.: level of collectivist orientation; perception of practice environment; degree of organizational commitment, and intention to leave current job. The research design was cross-sectional, correlational, and descriptive. A temporally ordered model was developed using the research literature and well-established instruments measured Asian RNs' level of collectivist orientation (Collectivist Orientation Scale), perception of practice environment (Practice Environment Scale of the Nursing Work Index), organizational commitment (Organizational Commitment Questionnaire), and intention to leave current job (Anticipated Turnover Scale). A snowball of 120 RNs was obtained. Descriptive, Pearson correlation, hierarchical regression, and the Sobel test were used to analyze data. Results showed that Asian nurses were highly collectivist-oriented. Generally, they had high levels of satisfaction with their practice environment and organizational commitment, but had low intention to leave their current jobs. Collectivist orientation, perception of practice environment, and organizational commitment were significantly and positively correlated to each other, but were significantly and negatively associated with intention to leave. The strongest predictor of intention to leave was organizational commitment. Organizational commitment mediated the relationship between perception of practice environment and intention to leave. It is important for administrators to understand characteristics of members of collectivist cultures and their organizational commitment. This may be crucial for administrators to lower the rate of turnover among Asian RNs. Future research should focus on longitudinal and controlled interventional studies to understand Asian nurses' satisfaction with their practice environment and their organizational commitment.