Psychophysical burden and lack of support : Reasons for care workers’ intentions to leave their work in the Nordic countries

Long-term care of older adults is currently suffering from a shortage of trained personnel and high turnover rates. Care work is poorly paid, demanding, increasingly time-bound and both mentally and physically burdensome. In this study, we examined the individual, organisational and economic factors that predict professional care workers’ intentions to leave their current employment, using the NORDCARE survey data (2015, N = 3801) collected in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The respondents were mainly practical and assistant nurses. The analysis showed that the predictors of intentions to leave were similar in the four countries. The most consistent organisational predictors of leaving intentions were related to psychophysical burden and a lack of supervisor support. Younger age also predicted intentions to leave. To break the vicious circle of burdensome work and high turnover, care workers need sufficient resources and support to conduct their work properly.