The Factors Associated With Workforce Attrition and Intention-to-leave Among Healthcare Workers in New Zealand: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-synthesis of Qualitative Research
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Clarke, Mia
Stephen, Ben
Frecklington, Mike
Zeng, Irene
Carroll, Matthew R
Siegert, Richard J
Stewart, Sarah
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Frontiers Media SA
Abstract
Despite growing concern about the stability of New Zealand's (NZ) health workforce, no prior synthesis has examined qualitative evidence on factors associated with attrition or intention-to-leave. This systematic review and meta-synthesis included 20 studies and followed the ENTREQ checklist to guide a content analysis of the literature. Seven themes were generated spanning organizational, professional, and personal levels: high workloads, unsupportive organizational culture, limited opportunities for career advancement, inadequate remuneration, a decline in professional identity, negative impacts on wellbeing, and work-life imbalance. The findings demonstrate that attrition and intention-to-leave arise from cumulative pressures across these levels, highlighting the need for coordinated retention strategies that address all domains of work experience.
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attrition, healthcare workforce, intention-to-leave, New Zealand, retention, systematic review, turnover intention
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Frontiers in Organizational Psychology, ISSN: 2813-771X (Online), Frontiers Media SA, 4. doi: 10.3389/forgp.2026.1777186
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© 2026 Clarke, Stephen, Frecklington, Zeng, Carroll, Siegert and Stewart. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
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Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Creative Commons Attribution License