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AIMS Public Health

2025, Volume 12, Issue 1: 44-55. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2025004
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Workload increases nurses' quiet quitting, turnover intention, and job burnout: evidence from Greece

  • 1.
    Clinical Epidemiology Laboratory, Faculty of Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece
  • 2.
    Faculty of Nursing, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
  • 3.
    Third Regional Health Authority of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
  • 4.
    Department of Radiology, P & A Kyriakou Children's Hospital, Athens, Greece
  • Received: 11 May 2024 Revised: 23 June 2024 Accepted: 17 July 2024 Published: 07 January 2025

  • Introduction 

    High workloads among nurses affect critical workplace outcomes, such as turnover intention, job burnout, and job satisfaction. However, there are no studies that measure the relationships between workload and these variables in the post-COVID-19 era.

    Objective 

    To evaluate the effect of workload on quiet quitting, turnover intention, and job burnout.

    Methods 

    We conducted a cross-sectional study using a sample of nurses in Greece. The NASA task load index was used to measure workloads among nurses. Also, we used valid scales to measure quiet quitting (quiet quitting scale), job burnout (single item burnout measure), and turnover intention (a six-point Likert scale).

    Results 

    The mean workload score was 80.7, indicating high workloads in our sample. Moreover, most of the nurses belonged to the group of quiet quitters (74.3%). About half of the nurses reported a high level of turnover intention (50.2%). After controlling for confounders, data analysis showed that higher workloads were associated with higher levels of quiet quitting [beta = 0.009, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.006 to 0.012, p-value < 0.001], turnover intention (odds ratio = 1.046, 95% CI = 1.035 to 1.056, p-value < 0.001), and job burnout (beta = 0.072, 95% CI = 0.065 to 0.079, p-value < 0.001).

    Conclusion 

    We found that workload was associated with quiet quitting, turnover intention, and job burnout in nurses. Thus, appropriate interventions should be applied to reduce nursing workloads to improve productivity and the healthcare provided to patients.

    Citation: Petros Galanis, Ioannis Moisoglou, Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Parisis Gallos, Maria Kalogeropoulou, Evangelia Meimeti, Irene Vraka. Workload increases nurses' quiet quitting, turnover intention, and job burnout: evidence from Greece[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2025, 12(1): 44-55. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2025004

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  • Introduction 

    High workloads among nurses affect critical workplace outcomes, such as turnover intention, job burnout, and job satisfaction. However, there are no studies that measure the relationships between workload and these variables in the post-COVID-19 era.

    Objective 

    To evaluate the effect of workload on quiet quitting, turnover intention, and job burnout.

    Methods 

    We conducted a cross-sectional study using a sample of nurses in Greece. The NASA task load index was used to measure workloads among nurses. Also, we used valid scales to measure quiet quitting (quiet quitting scale), job burnout (single item burnout measure), and turnover intention (a six-point Likert scale).

    Results 

    The mean workload score was 80.7, indicating high workloads in our sample. Moreover, most of the nurses belonged to the group of quiet quitters (74.3%). About half of the nurses reported a high level of turnover intention (50.2%). After controlling for confounders, data analysis showed that higher workloads were associated with higher levels of quiet quitting [beta = 0.009, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.006 to 0.012, p-value < 0.001], turnover intention (odds ratio = 1.046, 95% CI = 1.035 to 1.056, p-value < 0.001), and job burnout (beta = 0.072, 95% CI = 0.065 to 0.079, p-value < 0.001).

    Conclusion 

    We found that workload was associated with quiet quitting, turnover intention, and job burnout in nurses. Thus, appropriate interventions should be applied to reduce nursing workloads to improve productivity and the healthcare provided to patients.



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    Acknowledgments


    The authors are thankful to all participants in this study.

    Authors' contribution


    Conceptualization: Petros Galanis, Ioannis Moisoglou, Aglaia Katsiroumpa; methodology: Petros Galanis, Ioannis Moisoglou, Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Parisis Gallos, Irene Vraka; software: Petros Galanis, Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Parisis Gallos, Maria Kalogeropoulou, Evangelia Meimeti; validation: Parisis Gallos, Maria Kalogeropoulou, Evangelia Meimeti; formal analysis: Petros Galanis, Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Parisis Gallos, Irene Vraka; resources: Parisis Gallos, Maria Kalogeropoulou, Evangelia Meimeti; data curation: Petros Galanis, Ioannis Moisoglou, Aglaia Katsiroumpa; writing-original draft preparation: Petros Galanis, Ioannis Moisoglou, Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Parisis Gallos, Maria Kalogeropoulou, Evangelia Meimeti, Irene Vraka; writing-review and editing: Petros Galanis, Ioannis Moisoglou, Aglaia Katsiroumpa, Parisis Gallos, Maria Kalogeropoulou, Evangelia Meimeti, Irene Vraka; supervision: Petros Galanis.

    Conflict of interest


    Petros Galanis is an editorial board member for AIMS Public Health and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests.

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