A study of relationship between job stress, quality of working life and turnover intention among hospital employees

Abstract

Job stress is a serious threat to the quality of working life (QWL) of health-care employees and can cause hostility, aggression, absenteeism and turnover, as well as reduced productivity. In addition, job stress among employees affects the quality of health-care services. The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the relationships between job stress and QWL of employees, and their impact on turnover intention at Isfahan hospitals, Iran. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from hospital employees. Overall, 26% of employees graded their job stress high. The major sources of stress were inadequate pay, inequality at work, too much work, staff shortage, lack of recognition and promotion prospects, time pressure, lack of job security and lack of management support. An inverse relationship was found between job stress and QWL among hospital employees. The most important predictor of QWL was disturbance handling, followed by job proud, job security and job stress. Finally, while QWL was negatively associated with turnover intentions, job stress was positively related to employees' intention to quit. Since job stress has a strong correlation with employee QWL and turnover intention, it is very important to apply the right human resources policies to increase employees' QWL and decrease subsequent turnover. This study invites further research to explore, implement and evaluate intervention strategies for prevention of occupational stress and improvement in QWL.