title: Antecedents of the expectation of remaining in nursing until retirement age.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify job-related resources which strengthen nurses' expectation of remaining in the same job until retirement age.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The dramatic shortage of qualified nurses in industrialized countries makes it necessary to take steps to retain nurses at work at all career stages. The study introduces to the nursing literature the construct 'expectation of remaining in the same job until retirement age' as an early indicator of attitudes responsible for employees leaving the job prematurely.
  
  
  METHODS
  Longitudinal questionnaire survey.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 2010, a longitudinal study was carried out and data were collected from 387 nurses aged 21-63 years. To ensure predictive validity, the dependent variable was assessed again in 2011 after a time lag of 6 months. Data were analysed applying multiple regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The expectation of remaining in the same job until retirement age is positively related to work-time control, role clarity and colleague support. Supervisor support exerts an indirect effect via job resources. Vitality partially mediates the relationship between job resources and the expectation of remaining in the same job until retirement age. Most importantly, as hypothesized, the analysed relationships are different for younger (<30 years), middle-aged (30-50 years) and older (>50 years) nurses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that interventions that seek to retain nurses should promote different job resources along the working life span to strengthen nurses' vitality in all age groups. Future research should apply age-differentiated measures to unveil work conditions that improve the retention of nurses.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Work-, Organizational and Social Psychology, Technical University Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Susanne C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Liebermann
authors.affiliation: Institute for Occupational Medicine and Social Medicine, Duesseldorf University, Germany.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Work-. Social-, and Environmental Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weigl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Work-, Organizational and Social Psychology, Technical University Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wegge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008875:Middle Aged; D009740:Nursing Staff; D012179:Retirement; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: colleague support; job resources; nursing; retention; role clarity; supervisor support; vitality; work-time control; working life span