Abstract:
The general objective of the study was to establish the effect of job satisfaction on turnover among nursing employees at
national referral hospitals in Kenya. The study specifically sought to establish the effect of professional job autonomy,
work-life balance, participation in work decision-making process, compensation and work recognition on turnover
among nursing employees at national referral hospitals in Kenya. The study adopted mixed methods research design and
used simple random sampling to select a sample of 315 respondents from the 1779 registered nurses working at the 12
national referral hospitals in Kenya. The unit of analysis was national referral hospitals in Kenya while the unit of
observation was registered nurse managers or their equivalent. The analyzed data was presented using frequency tables,
charts and graphs. The study generated both qualitative and quantitative data which was collected using Likert scales
and was later analyzed descriptively using measures of central tendency and inferentially using correlation tests and
multiple regression models. The study found out that there is an inverse relationship between job satisfaction and
nursing employees’ turnover and that participation in work decision-making process and compensation contribute
positively but significantly to nursing employees’ turnover at these hospitals. The study therefore concluded that it is
imperative for the employer of the nursing employees at these hospitals to put in place job satisfaction strategy and
specifically put more emphasis on participation in work decision-making process and compensation in order to help
curtail and/or manage the turnover of the nursing employees at these hospitals more effectively. This will lead to their
retention for longer at these hospitals and hence help improve on the quality of services the nursing employees at these
hospitals provide to customers.
Keywords: Professional job autonomy, work-life balance, participation in work decision-making process, compensation,
work recognition and employee turnover
