A correlational study on the factors influencing burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention among emergency department nurses in the hail region of Saudi Arabia

Emergency department nurses play a critical role in providing quality care to patients, and gauging the degree of their burnout and its root causes holds significant importance. This study investigated the demographics and other factors associated with burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover among nurses in the Emergency Department (ED) in the Hail region of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional correlational method was employed. It included 370 nurses in the ED of seven hospitals in Hail region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using self-selected volunteer sampling via WhatsApp professional groups. Data were collected using standard questionnaires to measure burnout, job satisfaction, and turnover intention, from December 2025- January 2026. A conventional response rate could not be calculated due to unknown group membership. Female nurses reported lower job satisfaction than male nurses (B = − 1.19, p = .037). Mid-career and experienced nurses reported lower satisfaction than new graduates (B = − 2.05, p < .001; B = − 2.38, p < .001), and higher burnout (B = 8.63, p = .009; B = 11.02, p = .001). Nurses with master’s degrees reported higher burnout than those with bachelor’s degrees (B = 7.84, p = .011). Nurses in large hospitals reported lower burnout (B = − 15.43, p = .013) yet also lower job satisfaction (B = − 3.38, p = .025) than those in small hospitals. Nurses in peer support and professional development reported lower turnover intention than those in mentorship programs (B = − 0.35, p = .038; B = − 0.42, p = .008), but also lower job satisfaction (B = − 2.85, p < .001; B = − 3.77, p < .001). Job satisfaction was negatively correlated with burnout ( r = –.589, p < .001) and turnover intention ( r = –.569, p < .001), while burnout was positively correlated with turnover intention ( r = .683, p < .001). New graduate nurses reported higher satisfaction and lower burnout than experienced nurses. Master’s degree holders demonstrate higher burnout than their counterparts. Smaller hospitals have both better job satisfaction and higher burnout, indicating two separate JD-R paths. Both peer support and continuing education demonstrated a lower level of turnover intention compared to mentorship programs, but related to low job satisfaction. Compared to public hospital, private hospital nurses demonstrated higher turnover intentions in multi-variable analyses. Low job satisfaction was extremely related to high burnout and high turnover intentions and supports the importance of addressing these issues to help retain nurses. Caution should be applied when considering these results to a larger population due to the voluntary nature of the sample from the Hail Region.