Occupational stress as a predictor in the turnover decision.

One hundred seventy-five members of a rural convalescent hospital participated in a study which investigated, through path analysis, the impact of occupational stress on an organizational member's decision to leave the organization. This article reports the findings of this analysis with respect to the nurse's aides and other lower level support personnel categories employed in the hospital (N = 72). Strong support was found for the proposition that the level of perceived occupational stress reported by these employees would be highly instrumental in their decisions to leave.