Nurse Professional Commitment as a Mediator Between ProQOL, Resilience, and Retention Intentions among Filipino Nurses

Background: The current global nursing shortage is an important issue with significant implications for nursing practice. Increased nurse turnover will yield five percent of the total annual hospital operating costs, estimated to be around 5 trillion dollars annually due to the cost of hiring and training new nursing staff. In the United States, Filipino immigrant nurses play an integral part in the healthcare systems to patch the critical staffing gaps. The changing landscape of healthcare system delivery in the United States, threatens Filipino nurses to stay at their current jobs. This study aimed to explore the mediating effects of nurse professional commitment in the predicting effect of nurses’ professional quality of life and resilience on intention to stay at current work among Filipino registered nurses in the United States. Methods: Causal predictive with mediation analysis was used to determine the mediating effects of nurse professional commitment in the predicting effect of professional quality of life and resilience on intention to stay at current work among Filipino registered nurses in the US. The target population was chosen using the convenience sampling technique based on the inclusion criteria: (a) Filipino registered nurses (both US and Philippines) currently employed in a hospital for more than one year in Pennsylvania, United States, (b) >18 years old and above. The statistical tool was treated using partial least square- Structural Equation Modelling to test the mediating effect of nurse professional commitment in the predicting effect of professional quality of life and resilience on the intention to stay at current work among Filipino nurses in the United States. To test the mediation, the researcher adopted Baron and Kenny four step approach. Results: It was found that professional quality of life and resilience didn’t significantly predict one's intention to stay. This is further supported with the non-significance in terms of direct effect. The inability of professional quality of life and resilience to significantly predict intention to stay (regression and direct effect) indicates that there are other variables such as professional commitment mediates the predicting effect of professional quality of life and resilience to intention to stay. Conclusion: The mediating role of professional commitment in the predicting effects of professional quality of life and resilience on intention to stay reflected the significance in terms of indirect effect and total effect. This indicates that being committed to one's profession and being resilient alone would not influence one's decision to stay in one's job.