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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between employee retention and job security and the impact of retention factors on the job security of nurses in public hospitals in South Africa. The retention of nurses is essential in public hospitals in South Africa. It is therefore critical that retention strategies are primed to ensure the job security of nurses.

The study is quantitative in nature, adopts a cross-sectional approach and is set within a positivist research paradigm. Pre-established questionnaires were used to collect data. Non-probability sampling was used to select a convenience sample. Questionnaires were distributed to three public hospitals in Johannesburg and 202 responses were received. The psychometric properties of the questionnaire were established through validity and reliability. Inferential and descriptive statistics were deployed to analyse data.

The study established that there is a relationship between retention factors and job security. The study further identified retention factors as predictors of job security and noted that training and development was the strongest predictor of job security amongst nurses. In addition, the study contributes towards research on retention practices of nurses from a South African perspective.

The study recommendations are diagrammatically represented. If implemented by human resource practitioners and nursing management, they are likely to enhance job security.

The study provides insights on the retention of nursing professionals in public hospitals in Gauteng and identifies retention factors which contribute most towards job security.