Recruitment And Retention Of Nurses

1259 Words3 Pages

As the forthcoming nursing shortage threatens the United States, organizations must be knowledgeable in the recruitment and retention of nurses. The challenge facing health care organizations will be to retain sufficient numbers of nurses to provide safe, efficient, quality care to patients. Organizations will look to recruit and attract quality nurses to fill vacancies. As turnover in nursing is a recurring problem, health care organizations will look for strategies to reduce turnover. The rate of turnover for bedside nurses in 2013 ranged from 4.4 to 44.6% (American Nurses Association, 2013). Nurse retention focuses on keeping nurses in the organization and preventing turnover. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the significance of recruitment and retention of nurses, review the literature, and explore how recruitment and retention apply to nursing. Significance of Recruitment and Retention “In 2010, the US Department of Labor Statistics (DLS) projected a 22 percent increase in the demand for RNs or 581,500 new jobs by 2018, to total a projected 1,039,000 jobs needed to be filled by 2018” (Cottingham, DiBartolo, Battistoni, and Brown, 2011, p. 250). It is imperative that strategies be implemented to improve the recruitment of nurses to meet the needs. Without improvements in the recruiting of new grads or seasoned nurses, organizations will need to rely on expensive agencies and traveling nurses; therefore, causing a financial burden on organizations (Cottingham et al., 2011). Recruitment becomes a greater challenge in organizations with high turnover due to the increased number of vacancies. Nationwide, only 14% of employees feel satisfied with their jobs (Clawson & Haskins, 2011). This lack of satisfaction can... ... middle of paper ... ...pected to approach 500,000 by 2025, and today 30-50% of RNs leave their practice setting or even the profession within three years of graduating (MacKusick & Minick, 2010). Nursing leaders can use all of the strategies described above to help retain nursing staff. Their success is vital to ensure safe staffing, judicious use of health care dollars, and a high level of expertise at their institutions. Conclusion Being aware of recruitment and retention strategies is a must for a nurse manager. As leaders, we must take the time to invest in our future nurses by utilizing evidence-based practices to ensure our profession thrives and can continue to provide safe, high-quality care to our patients. Being aware of recruitment and retention strategies is necessary in this ever changing world of healthcare to ensure we have competent nurses to carry us into the future.

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