Abstract
BackgroundThe development of medical social work is an indispensable part of the Healthy China Strategy. However, the medical service field has the fewest social workers in all service fields in China. Creating favorable working conditions can reduce the turnover intention of social workers in the medical service field. So it is necessary to integrate the existing theoretical models to deeply analyze the multiple influencing paths of working conditions on the medical social workers’ turnover intention in the context of China.MethodsThe data we used came from the China Social Work Longitudinal Survey (CSWLS) conducted in 56 cities across the country in 2019. It adopted a multi-stage random sampling method and the sample of medical social workers was selected according to their current service field and the sample size finally entering the model was 382. We tested the relationships with the Structural Equation Model (SEM) by STATA 16.0.ResultsJob-related stress play the most significant role in explaining the formation mechanism of medical social workers’ turnover intention. On the one hand, job-related stress can reduce the job satisfaction of medical social workers, further increasing their turnover intention; on the other hand, job-related stress can increase job burnout of medical social workers, further reducing their job satisfaction and ultimately increasing the turnover intention. Job satisfaction plays a full mediating effect between the job burnout of medical social workers and their turnover intention. The social support and job autonomy provided by social work agencies have limited effects on decreasing the turnover intention of medical social workers.ConclusionsThe two paths of job-related stress affecting turnover intention successfully integrate the Job Demands-Resources Model and the Price-Mueller Turnover Model into the same theoretical framework providing a theoretical basis for reducing the turnover intention and behavior of social workers in the medical service field, improving the management level in the medical service system and promoting the overall healthy and sustainable development of medical social work in China.
Highlights
The development of medical social work is an indispensable part of the Healthy China Strategy
Personal accomplishment was measured through eight items: “I feel very energetic”, “I can understand how my recipients feel about things”, “I can create a relaxed atmosphere with my recipients”, “I feel exhilarated after working closely with my recipients”, “I have accomplished many worthwhile things in this job”, “I deal very effectively with the problems of my recipients”, “In my work, I deal with emotional problems very calmly”, “I feel I’m positively influencing other people’s lives through my work”
Theoretical implications Creating favorable working conditions can reduce the instability of social workers in the medical service field and can attract more social workers to engage in this field
Summary
The development of medical social work is an indispensable part of the Healthy China Strategy. It is necessary to integrate the existing theoretical models to deeply analyze the multiple influencing paths of working conditions on the medical social workers’ turnover intention in the context of China. The insufficiency of the number of medical social workers and the lack of a clear career development path lead to difficulties to recruit and retain social workers in the medical service field in China. It will further affect the quality, consistency, and stability of medical services [5]. It is necessary to explore the experience of professionals in this field of China
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have