Psychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experiment

Abstract Background Psychiatric nurses are instrumental in enhancing accessibility to care and addressing the mental health care needs of individuals. However, the field faces a significant shortage of nurses coupled with a high turnover rate. Developing policies to attract or retain psychiatric nur...

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Main Authors: Hui-qin Li, Peng Xie, Weixin Jiang, Yu Hou, Shiwei Gong, Si Jin, Zhenfan Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-03-01
Series:BMC Nursing
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-02862-y
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author Hui-qin Li
Peng Xie
Weixin Jiang
Yu Hou
Shiwei Gong
Si Jin
Zhenfan Liu
author_facet Hui-qin Li
Peng Xie
Weixin Jiang
Yu Hou
Shiwei Gong
Si Jin
Zhenfan Liu
author_sort Hui-qin Li
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Psychiatric nurses are instrumental in enhancing accessibility to care and addressing the mental health care needs of individuals. However, the field faces a significant shortage of nurses coupled with a high turnover rate. Developing policies to attract or retain psychiatric nurses is imperative, but little is known about the preferences of psychiatric nurses regarding the economic and non-economic attributes of work. Here, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to explore psychiatric nurses’ job preferences. Methods A survey instrument was developed adhering to the design-principles of DCE. Psychiatric nurses were surveyed nationwide based on convenience sampling. A mixed logit model was used to estimate the psychiatric nurses’ preferences. Willingness to pay was calculated and the change in the probability of psychiatric nurses accepting a job when attribute levels changed was simulated. Results The attribute level most valued by respondents was ‘violent coping strategies-impeccable’ (coefficient = 1.002, p < 0.01) and willingness to pay for it is 4476.5323 CNY. The most important attribute level for psychiatric nurses living in cities was ‘respect-high’ (coefficient = 0.505, p < 0.01), and for psychiatric nurses living in town is ‘study assistance for children-thorough’ (coefficient = 0.620, p < 0.01). Notably, psychiatric nurses with less than ten years of work experience exhibited significant preferences for ‘opportunity to upgrade-sufficient’ (coefficient = 0.417, p < 0.01), whereas this preference was insignificant among those with ten years or more of experience (p > 0.05). Changing ‘violence coping strategies’ from ‘without’ to ‘impeccable’ increased the probability of psychiatric nurses accepting the job by 37.04%. The optimal job increased the probability of psychiatric nurses accepting the job by 86.06%. Conclusion Psychiatric nurses would prefer jobs with higher income, more respect, better coping strategies with violence, better opportunities for promotion, and a good working atmosphere. Psychiatric nurses with different seniority and residence had different preferences.
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spelling doaj-art-4678f25224b041fc8ae1f2e5b83288132025-08-20T03:05:57ZengBMCBMC Nursing1472-69552025-03-0124111010.1186/s12912-025-02862-yPsychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experimentHui-qin Li0Peng Xie1Weixin Jiang2Yu Hou3Shiwei Gong4Si Jin5Zhenfan Liu6Liyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDeyang People’s HospitalSchool of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologySchool of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologySchool of Pharmacy, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyLiyuan Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and TechnologyDeyang People’s HospitalAbstract Background Psychiatric nurses are instrumental in enhancing accessibility to care and addressing the mental health care needs of individuals. However, the field faces a significant shortage of nurses coupled with a high turnover rate. Developing policies to attract or retain psychiatric nurses is imperative, but little is known about the preferences of psychiatric nurses regarding the economic and non-economic attributes of work. Here, a discrete choice experiment (DCE) was used to explore psychiatric nurses’ job preferences. Methods A survey instrument was developed adhering to the design-principles of DCE. Psychiatric nurses were surveyed nationwide based on convenience sampling. A mixed logit model was used to estimate the psychiatric nurses’ preferences. Willingness to pay was calculated and the change in the probability of psychiatric nurses accepting a job when attribute levels changed was simulated. Results The attribute level most valued by respondents was ‘violent coping strategies-impeccable’ (coefficient = 1.002, p < 0.01) and willingness to pay for it is 4476.5323 CNY. The most important attribute level for psychiatric nurses living in cities was ‘respect-high’ (coefficient = 0.505, p < 0.01), and for psychiatric nurses living in town is ‘study assistance for children-thorough’ (coefficient = 0.620, p < 0.01). Notably, psychiatric nurses with less than ten years of work experience exhibited significant preferences for ‘opportunity to upgrade-sufficient’ (coefficient = 0.417, p < 0.01), whereas this preference was insignificant among those with ten years or more of experience (p > 0.05). Changing ‘violence coping strategies’ from ‘without’ to ‘impeccable’ increased the probability of psychiatric nurses accepting the job by 37.04%. The optimal job increased the probability of psychiatric nurses accepting the job by 86.06%. Conclusion Psychiatric nurses would prefer jobs with higher income, more respect, better coping strategies with violence, better opportunities for promotion, and a good working atmosphere. Psychiatric nurses with different seniority and residence had different preferences.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-02862-yDiscrete choice experimentJob preferencePsychiatric nurseRecruitmentRetention
spellingShingle Hui-qin Li
Peng Xie
Weixin Jiang
Yu Hou
Shiwei Gong
Si Jin
Zhenfan Liu
Psychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experiment
BMC Nursing
Discrete choice experiment
Job preference
Psychiatric nurse
Recruitment
Retention
title Psychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experiment
title_full Psychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experiment
title_fullStr Psychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experiment
title_full_unstemmed Psychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experiment
title_short Psychiatric nurses’ preferences for job: a discrete choice experiment
title_sort psychiatric nurses preferences for job a discrete choice experiment
topic Discrete choice experiment
Job preference
Psychiatric nurse
Recruitment
Retention
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-025-02862-y
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