Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that cause female nurses to terminate work early in their nursing careers. A survey of 808 nurses less than ten years into their careers was conducted, covering background factors (age, education, workplace, night shifts, working hours, instructional role), psychological factors (organizational commitment, job satisfaction, reality shock), and the intention to continue work following marriage and/or childbirth. A covariant structure analysis was conducted on 405 valid samples to examine the relative influence of these three factors. The results indicated that working nights lowered nurses' organizational commitment and that reality shock had a negative effect on their intention to continue working. It was also found that playing an instructional role increased organizational commitment, helped nurses overcome reality shock, and had a positive effect on their intention to continue working.
