Associations of regrets and coping strategies with job satisfaction and turnover intention: international prospective cohort study of novice healthcare professionals

AIMS OF THE STUDY: (1) To assess the associations of care-related regrets with job satisfaction and turnover intention; and (2) to examine whether these associations are partially mediated by coping strategies. METHODS: Data came from ICARUS, a prospective international cohort study of novice healthcare professionals working in acute care hospitals and clinics from various countries (e.g., Australia, Austria, Botswana, Canada, Denmark, France, Haiti, Ireland, Kenya, the United Kingdom and United States). Care-related regrets (number of regrets and regret intensity), coping strategies, job satisfaction and turnover intention were assessed weekly for 1 year. RESULTS: 229 young healthcare professionals (2387 observations) were included in the analysis. For a given week, experiencing a larger number of care-related regrets was associated with decreased job satisfaction, and experiencing more intense care-related regrets was associated with increased turnover intention. These associations were partially mediated by coping strategies. Maladaptive emotion-focused strategies were associated with decreased job satisfaction and increased turnover intention, whereas adaptive problem-focused strategies showed the opposite pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed that care-related regrets and maladaptive coping strategies are associated with job dissatisfaction and the intention to quit patient care. Helping healthcare professionals to cope with these emotional experiences seems essential to prevent early job quitting.