Abstract:
The general objective of the study was to establish the effect of compensation 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 in charge of wards or units at national referral hospitals in Kenya.
Positive responses were received as valid from 261 respondents out of the sampled 315 respondents giving an 83%
response rate. The analyzed data was presented using frequency tables, charts and graphs. The questionnaire was pilot
tested on respondents drawn from national referral hospitals who were not included in the final research. 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 data obtained was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Correlation analysis was used to test
the direction of relationship between independent and dependent variables. The study found out that compensation
contributes 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 more emphasis on 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: Compensation and employee turnover
