Turnover intention formation among newly graduated nurses: a qualitative study from the retrospective perspectives of nurses who resigned from their initial clinical nursing positions

Newly graduated nurses are at a critical stage of transition from student to professional nurse. Early turnover not only threatens nursing workforce stability but also increases organisational recruitment and training costs and may compromise continuity of nursing care. Previous studies have largely explained turnover intention in terms of factors such as work-related stress, burnout, the practice environment, and social support. However, less is known about how turnover intention develops over time from the retrospective perspectives of nurses who have resigned from their initial clinical nursing positions. To explore how turnover intention develops among newly graduated nurses and the experiences and contextual factors associated with this process. A qualitative descriptive design was used. Fifteen former newly graduated nurses were recruited using purposive sampling. Data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis. Turnover intention was not a clearly established intention when participants first entered clinical practice; rather, participants’ accounts reflected a gradual shift from trying to adapt towards perceiving fewer reasons to stay. Participants generally entered the workplace expecting to be supported, guided, and gradually prepared for independent clinical practice. However, demanding workloads, assignment to non-preferred clinical departments, and difficulties translating theoretical knowledge into clinical action quickly exposed a gap between their expectations and the realities of practice. When preceptorship support was difficult to access, asking questions felt unsafe, and a sense of team belonging was lacking, participants described increasing feelings of isolation and self-doubt alongside continuing difficulties in adaptation. As participants described a diminishing sense of professional value and accumulating physical and emotional exhaustion, occasional thoughts of leaving appeared to become more persistent and, for some, were accompanied by psychological withdrawal before the eventual decision to leave. In this sample, turnover intention appeared to emerge cumulatively within the context of disrupted professional adaptation rather than in response to any single adverse experience. Nursing managers should therefore establish support systems that are accessible, sustained over time, and subject to ongoing evaluation. Not applicable.