The nursing workforce imbalance between supply and demand, growth of the overall population, and the increasing emergence of baby-boomers accessing the healthcare system, create the 'perfect storm' for healthcare organizations. Nurses' intent-to-stay in an organization is a complex, multi-faceted combination of internal and external factors. The established factors of nursing turnover, in combination with the diverse needs and interests of the current workforce, will likely continue to affect nurse executives functioning in an evolving complex and dynamic acute care environment.

The descriptive correlational and comparative design included study participants (N = 172) who graduated from university-based traditional (n = 87) and accelerated (n = 85) BSN programs since January 2006. The research hypothesis, "for graduates of traditional BSN programs, the linear combination of workforce, leadership, and empowerment will predict intent-to-stay in the organization better than one variable alone was rejected with only workforce (R² = .44, p < .001) entering the multiple regression (MR) equation. The research hypothesis, "for graduates of accelerated BSN programs, the linear combination of workforce, leadership, and empowerment will predict intent-to-stay in the organization better than one variable alone was rejected with only empowerment (R² = .31, p < .001) entering the MR equation. The predictor variables of workforce, leadership, and empowerment were strongly and significantly correlated to intent-to-stay; but, were excluded from the MR equation due to high multicollinearity. Leadership failed to enter into the multiple regression equation for both traditional and accelerated BSN graduates. The research hypothesis, graduates of traditional BSN programs and graduates of accelerated BSN programs will differ on intent-to-stay in the organization beyond the initial two years of employment was rejected. Additional analyses of demographic variables yielded a significant correlation of intent-to-stay and working at a Magnet ^® organization, otherwise no significant correlations were found.

This research study was derived from King's conceptual system and provided the framework for development of a practice theory of intent-to-stay in novice nurses. The application of King's theory supported the concepts of workforce and empowerment as predictors of intent-to-stay in traditional and accelerated BSN graduates respectively. The knowledge of intent-to-stay for novice nurses has been advanced through this study of traditional and accelerated BSN nurses with less than two years experience, and therefore, future research will need to examine other predictors of intent-to-stay.