Aims

Based on conservation of resources theory, the study aimed to investigate how nurses' strengths use affects their turnover intention and its potential mechanisms and boundary conditions.

Design

The study adopted a time-lagged research design.

Methods

The study was conducted from October 2019 to January 2020, with a sample of 234 registered nurses in a tertiary hospital in Beijing, China. The study used bootstrapping to test the hypotheses.

Results

Strengths use had a significant negative effect on turnover intention, and job crafting completely mediated the relationship between strengths use and turnover intention. Furthermore, self-efficacy positively moderated the direct relationship between strengths use and job crafting and the indirect relationship between strengths use and turnover intention via job crafting.

Conclusion

The study is the first to examine the relationships among nurses' strengths use and turnover intention, demonstrating that the activation and accumulation of work resources through job crafting can effectively reduce nurses' turnover intention. Additionally, by emphasizing the moderating effect of self-efficacy, the study contributes to finding a way for hospitals to enhance the effectiveness of nurses' strengths use in terms of increased job crafting and reduced turnover intention.

Impact

Nurse managers should help nurses identify their strengths to improve their strengths use, provide nurses with more freedom to craft their jobs and take actions to build nurses' self-efficacy and positive expectations about their jobs.