Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship among job retention, work empowerment, job difficulties and work engagement in administrators of visiting nursing stations. Method: An anonymous self-completed questionnaire survey was conducted among 2,882 administrators of every other visiting nursing station registered in each prefecture randomly selected. The following items were surveyed: demographic characteristics of visiting nursing stations and administrators; work empowerment; job difficulties; work engagement; and intention to remain in their present position. It was hypothesized that work empowerment has an indirect effect, through job difficulties and work engagement, on intention of administrators to remain in their current jobs. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate causal relationships among relevant variables. Results: The administrators' perceived work empowerment had an indirect effect, through job difficulties and work engagement independently, on their intention to continue in their jobs. Job difficulties had a stronger influence on intention to continue than work engagement. Conclusion: Findings of this study suggest that in order for administrators to continue their duties, it is essential to reduce job difficulties by improving their work empowerment.
