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THE UNITED STATES is facing a critical shortage of registered nurses (RNs) that will undoubtedly severely and negatively affect the delivery of safe, quality health care at a time when nearly 70 million baby boomers are scheduled to retire. The failure of new candidates to enter the nursing profession, the aging and retirement of those RNs currently practicing nursing, and the large numbers of RNs that leave the nursing profession for other employment has created a severe nursing shortage that is negatively impacting health care. In turn, these factors have affected the personal choices individuals make in selecting their education and career, in choosing their work environment, and in determining how long they plan to remain in the workforce. The literature has hundreds of studies in the areas of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and burnout or stress. These studies provide much valuable information but do not examine the concept of commitment to the profession of nursing. The purpose of this study was to test the efficacy of the Three-Component Model of Occupational Commitment in predicting RN intent to leave the profession. Eight hypotheses were tested in order to study the model and the influences of modifying variables (age, gender, level of education, and length of experience as a RN).
Theoretical Framework
Meyer and Allen (1991) developed the Three-Component Model of Occupational Commitment (see Figure 1) to describe the psychological link between an individual and the decision to continue in an occupation. The three components have been labeled as affective (attachment to an organization), normative (obligation to remain in the organization), and continuance (perceived costs of leaving an organization). According to the model, an individual's psychological commitment shifts from an organization or job situation to the occupation or profession based on the individual's emotional link to the occupation (Blau, 2003; Lee, Carswell, & Allen, 2000; Van Maanen & Barley, 1984). Individuals continue to participate in an occupation because they want to do so (affective), because they feel obligated to do so (normative), or because they need to do so (continuance). Variables prescribed by the theoretical model include the ThreeComponent Model of Commitment and RN intent to leave the profession of nursing. Additionally, the modifying variables of RN age, RN gender, RN level of education, and RN...