title: A qualitative exploration of nurses leaving nursing practice in China.
abstract: This paper reports a theoretical understanding of nurses leaving nursing practice by exploring the processes of decision-making by registered nurses in China on exiting clinical care.
  
  
  
  The loss of nurses through their voluntarily leaving nursing practice has not attracted much attention in China. There is a lack of an effective way to understand and communicate nursing workforce mobility in China and worldwide.
  
  
  
  This qualitative study draws on the constant comparative method following a grounded theory approach.
  
  
  
  In-depth interviews with 19 nurses who had left nursing practice were theoretically sampled from one provincial capital city in China during August 2009-March 2010.
  
  
  
  The core category 'Mismatching Expectations: Individual vs. Organizational' emerged from leavers' accounts of their leaving. By illuminating the interrelationship between the core category and the main category 'Individual Perception of Power,' four nursing behaviour patterns were identified: (1) Voluntary leaving; (2) Passive staying; (3) Adaptive staying and (4) Active staying.
authors.affiliation: Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing University of Western Ontario London Ontario Canada; Nursing Studies School of Medicine Hangzhou Normal University Hangzhou China.
authors.forename: Junhong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Nursing Studies School of Health in Social Science University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK.
authors.forename: Sheila
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rodgers
authors.affiliation: Nursing Studies School of Health in Social Science University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK.
authors.forename: Kath M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Melia
keywords: China; expectations; nursing turnover; nursing workforce management; power; shortage; voluntary leaving