Does payment reward moderate the relationship between three-shift work and turnover intention of nurses in South Korea?

Three-shift work is essential for providing 24-hour nursing care. Driven largely by high turnover rates, increasing payment reward has been proposed as potential motivator for nurses. Based on the job demands-resources model (JD-R model), this paper investigates whether three-shift work increases nurses’ turnover intention, and if payment reward moderates this relationship. Data were collected from a 2022 survey of nurses at a large hospital in South Korea. An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression model was used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that nurses working three shifts report a higher intention to leave their jobs. However, payment reward does not significantly moderate the relationship between three-shift work and turnover intention. This suggests that financial compensation alone is not sufficient for retaining nurses who work three-shift rotations. While three-shift nurses are essential for continuous medical services, they are vulnerable to physical, mental, and social problems caused by their work schedules. Although additional financial incentives are often suggested to mitigate these issues, this article concludes that other programs beyond payment reward have to be considered to motivate and retain three-shift nurses.