The Impact of Organizational Culture on Career Leaving Among Nurses: Examining Global Nurses’ Shortage Through the Lenses of Organizational Culture: A Systematic Review

Background: Globally, healthcare settings are facing significant nursing staff shortages occasioned by nurse turnover and experiencing difficulties in recruitment and retention of nursing professionals. The pressure of shortage of nurses and other healthcare workforce is so severe that World Health Organization has warned European countries and the globe that this shortage is a “ticking timebomb” if an action is not taken. Organizational culture is an important antecedent of nurse turnover that remains weakly studied. Despite a plethora of research on the global shortage of nurses and turnover, there have been few dedicated systematic literature reviews, and this study aimed to fill this gap. Objective: To collect and collate evidence available in the literature on the impact of organizational culture on career and professional leaving among nurses and emphasize the critical role of organizational culture in turnover and retention of nurses. Methods: Using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines, a comprehensive literature search according to the Population, Exposure and Outcome search strategy model was performed in six major electronic databases, including PubMed, Ovid Medline, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus and Web of Science, in July 2023. Studies that met the inclusion criteria set were screened using Rayyan and Covidence. Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess the quality and risk of bias of the included articles. RESULTS: The search yielded a total of 2,396 articles, of which 30 were included. The results demonstrate that nurse turnover remains a complex issue and continues to plague nations of the world. Organizational culture is an important antecedent of nurse turnover, with different types of organizational culture affecting turnover differently. We found overall that, negative organizational culture and climate was consistently associated with nurse’s turnover while positive culture improved nurse retention. Conclusion: This study confirmed that organizational culture seriously influences nurse turnover. Nurse managers and hospital managements should strive to continuously monitor and build positive organizational cultures to raise quality of service delivery and retain nurse workforce.