Factors influencing individuals to move away from careers as clinical radiographers

Introduction: Many factors can influence a radiographer to leave the clinical profession. The retention of radiographers in the clinical workforce is an issue for many countries including Ireland. This study aimed to explore factors influencing radiographers in Ireland to leave the clinical profession so that changes can be considered to reduce attrition from clinical workforce.

Methods: The data collection consisted of online questionnaires and interviews to explore the job satisfaction of former radiographers who left the clinical radiography profession. The questionnaire, completed by 12 purposefully selected participants, included a validated job satisfaction tool, the job satisfaction questionnaire (JS-Q) for health workforce, answered twice to understand the participants job satisfaction levels during their time as clinical radiographers and in their current career. Six participants from the questionnaire group were also interviewed, answering eight questions further exploring their satisfaction in past and present roles. Analysis of interview transcripts revealed recurring themes linked to job satisfaction among participants.

Results: The JS-Q findings demonstrated a statistically significant disparity in satisfaction levels between participants' previous roles as clinical radiographers and their current occupations (p = 0.0002) with participants reported higher job satisfaction in their current careers across all eight sub-themes. Data from the interviews reinforced the JS-Q findings, revealing that issues related to career advancement, lack of challenges, and inflexible work environments were driving individuals to leave clinical radiography.

Conclusion: The findings align with previous research on staff retention strategies indicating that the attractiveness of a profession is influenced by the work environment, working circumstances, and possibilities for professional growth. Addressing these concerns may enhance clinical radiography retention rates. In particular, this study identified challenges for Irish clinical radiographers, showing marked differences in job satisfaction between their previous clinical roles and current careers.

Implications or practice: With the retention of clinical radiographers an ongoing challenge, the identification and exploration of factors influencing radiographers to leave the profession, must be considered and changes implemented in an effort to reduce attrition rate from clinical radiography in Ireland.