Factors contributing to pharmacists’ turnover intention: a systematic review

Abstract

Pharmacist turnover could negatively impact not only work efficiency, organizational performance, work productivity, and customer satisfaction but also the quality of pharmaceutical services and patient safety. The turnover intention was a core antecedent of turnover, therefore, this study aimed to systematically review the extent of pharmacists’ actual turnover and their intention to leave their jobs or the pharmacy profession, and to elaborate on the factors affecting the pharmacists’ turnover intention and their associations. Studies related to any factors affecting pharmacists’ turnover intention in all pharmacy settings were included. The QualSyst assessment tool was used for assessing the quality of the included studies. Twenty-eight studies were contained in this systematic review. Fifteen studies (53.6%) were conducted from the US, 3 studies (10.7%) from Taiwan, 2 studies (7.1%) from the UK, and the remaining studies from Lithuania, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, and Jamaica. The actual turnover of the pharmacists from their jobs was ranged in 8.6-17% and the actual turnover from the pharmacy profession was in the range of 6-9%. The turnover intention of the pharmacists in their jobs was ranged from 13% to 61.2% and the turnover intention in the pharmacy profession was 6.5% to 18.8%. Hospital pharmacists had significantly higher turnover intentions than community ones. The turnover intention rates of both hospital and community pharmacists were gradually increased over time in both European countries and Asian countries. From 20 included studies, 30 factors were explored and a model for pharmacists’ turnover intention was produced. Organizational commitment, job satisfaction, career commitment, job stress, perceived organizational support, and work climate were frequently found as drivers to pharmacist turnover intention. Some of the other 24 factors had both direct and indirect effects on pharmacist turnover intention via organizational commitment, job satisfaction, career commitment, job stress, and perceived organizational support. Many studies reported that organizational commitment and job satisfaction had a significant influence on pharmacist turnover intention in all settings. Job stress and work climate had direct and indirect effects on the turnover intention of hospital pharmacists. Career commitment and perceived organizational support had direct and indirect effects on community pharmacist turnover intention. Our systematic review was beneficial to guide human resource management in pharmacy and useful for guiding the conceptual framework of future research studies.