Objective This study aimed to investigate the main determinants related to their intension to stay at an institution, by years of clinical experience, among nurses in Japan.

Method A cross-sectional survey was conducted at 12 hospitals in the Tohoku and Kanto regions of Japan. Of the 1,034 nurses working in those hospitals, 481 nurses (response rate: 46.5%) completed a questionnaire and contributed to the analyses. The participants identified the determinants strengthening their intention to stay at the current hospital (‘comfortable workplace environment,’ ‘passive motivational factors,’ ‘convenience of hospital location,’ ‘favorable work-life balance,’ and ‘fulfilment in nursing’), and individual attribution. The radar charts were shown to assess the determinants strengthening the intention to stay based on the standardized scores of determinants strengthening the intention to stay.

Results Nurses having less than 9 years of clinical experience and having 10–19 years of clinical experience showed higher scores of ‘passive motivational factors’ than the scores for the other determinants. Nurses having less than 9 years of clinical experience rated the lowest scores for ‘favorable work-life balance’ among all the determinants. On the other hand, nurses having more than 20 years of clinical experience gave the highest scores to ‘favorable work-life balance’, and the lowest scores to ‘passive motivational factors.’ Nurses having less than 9 years of clinical experience gave lower scores to ‘comfortable workplace environment,’ ‘convenience of hospital location,’ ‘favorable work-life balance,’ and ‘fulfilment in nursing’ than the other nurses. Nurses having more than 20 years of clinical experience showed opposite response trends compared to nurses having less than 9 years of clinical experience.

Conclusion Which determinants nurses emphasized in relation with their intention to stay would depend on the duration of clinical experience. Nurses having less than 9 years of clinical experience would be likely to stay at their current institution with passive motivation.