Objectives: There are high rates of turnover documented among frontline care work staff in long-term residential care (LTC). Turnover has been associated with negative organizational outcomes. This study examined turnover contemplation among LTC workers in several Canadian provinces.
Design: A questionnaire including closed- and open-ended questions was sent out to Canadian LTC workers. Workers received a hard copy of the survey through mail and were able to send the hard copy back or complete the survey online.
Setting and participants: Canadian LTC workers (N = 347) were surveyed about their work using open- and closed-ended questions. This included demographic information and variables related to working conditions, interactions with supervisors and colleagues, and resident care.
Methods: Data were analyzed in IBM SPSS Statistics. Descriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression were performed using turnover contemplation as the outcome variable.
Results: Among Canadian LTC workers, contemplating leaving their current position is significantly and positively associated with lower support from immediate supervisors, working in a non-government-owned facility, and having less autonomy to perform more social care tasks.
Conclusions and implications: LTC facilities, and systems more broadly, could improve worker retention rates by improving supervisory support and allowing workers to spend more time meaningfully interacting with patients.
Keywords: Long-term care; caregiving for older people; labor process; social care.
Copyright © 2025. Published by Elsevier Inc.
