The purpose of this study was to test the turnover intention model for chief nurse officers in general hospitals. The variables for the study included job stress, social support, job satisfaction, and organization commitment.

A predictive, non-experimental design was used with a sample of 144 chief nurse officers from 144 general hospitals. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS, AMOS program.

The overall fitness of the hypothetical model to the data was good (χ²=16.80, p=.052, GFI=.96, AGFI=.90, NFI=.97, CFI=.99). Job stress, social support, job satisfaction, and organization commitment explained 59.0% of the variance in turnover intention by chief nurse officers. Both organization commitment and social support directly influenced turnover intention for chief nurse officers, and job stress and job satisfaction indirectly influenced turnover intention.

The results imply that chief nurse officers in hospitals need social support and management of job stress to increase job satisfaction and organization commitment, and lower turnover intention.