Will They Stay or Will They Go? Building the Business Case for Nurse Retention
December 15, 2015
Registered nurse (RN) turnover is an ongoing problem for healthcare organizations.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that nurse turnover may be rising in U.S. hospitals, as changes in healthcare delivery attract nurses to community-based settings, and as a strengthening economy enables some in the workforce to retire and others to leave the workforce to pursue other interests.
While healthcare organizations have historically faced high levels of new graduate RN turnover, there are growing concerns about recruiting and retaining experienced nurses.
In general, RN turnover is considered to be undesirable for healthcare organizations because it is expensive, requires managers to take quick action to meet short- and long-term staffing needs, diverts attention and resources away from other organizational initiatives, and, most importantly, introduces potential compromises in quality of care and patient safety.
Nurse turnover can also precipitate more turnover, as job opportunities open up in the market, or as nurses leave after losing valued colleagues.
With the expectation that new graduate RN turnover rates will continue to be a problem, and growing concerns about experienced nurses leaving hospitals for jobs elsewhere, understanding the impact of nurse turnover and what can be done to retain new and experienced nurses iscritical.