The nursing workforce is particularly challenged when it comes to retaining high quality nurses in the profession. This issue is relevant to new and seasoned nurses alike. There are senior nurses experiencing burnout intending to leave the workforce before retirement age and new nurses leaving the profession prematurely, creating too much nurse turnover. When turnover takes place unexpectedly and prior to retirement, the collective effect is financially and socially detrimental to the nursing profession and healthcare institutions. High nurse turnover can influence a healthcare organization’s ability to provide quality patient care and accomplish the best possible patient outcomes (Hayes et al., 2006). Investigating the sources of high nurse turnover rates and the negative impact on healthcare will bring greater understanding to this nursing workforce issue. In addition to the loss to the profession there is a significant financial cost associated with high nurse turnover rates. Data on the cost of nurse turnover to an institution, per nurse, is approximately $82,000 to fill a vacancy with a …show more content…
The new nurses may feel bullied and become inclined to leave nursing prematurely. Bullying can be pervasive in the workplace environment and in a study of 612 new graduate nurses, 14% cited this as a significant factor in their decision to leave the profession (D’ambra & Andrews, 2014). Further evidence regarding new nurse retention rates come from a study done at The Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Prior to advocating for higher nurse retention, they had first year new nurse hire retention rates as low as 50% (Hillman & Foster, 2011). Workplace environment and burnout influence new nurse retention as well as high new nurse turnover. Therefore institutions who address these issues with interventions that promote nurse empowerment provide a protective factor and source of positivity for new
With the ongoing changes in the healthcare field, nursing workforce retention presents itself as one of the greatest challenges facing healthcare systems today. According to the American Nursing Association, nursing turnover is a multi-faceted issue which impacts the financial stability of the facility, the quality of patient care and has a direct affect on the other members of the nursing staff (ANA, 2014). The cost to replace a nurse in a healthcare facility ranges between $62,100 to $67,100 (ANA, 2014). The rising problem with nursing retention will intensify the nursing shortage, which has been projected to affect the entire nation, not just isolated areas of the country, gradually increasing in its scope from 2009 to 2030 (Rosseter, 2014). The nursing shortage is directly related to the increased rate of the population growth, the decrease in enrollment of new nursing students, the aging population as well as the problem of nursing retention (STTI, 2014). In order to determine interventions that are necessary to retain the nursing workforce, evidence-based research must be reviewed to understand strategies needed to alleviate this problem. The literature reviewed shows a direct relationship between nursing retention and the satisfaction of the nurses with the environment in which they work. The healthcare environment, as seen from a nurse’s perspective, is affected by many factors such as the autonomy of the nurses, the support from leadership, the opportunities for professional development and the quality of the relationships between the nurses and other disciplines. These factors should be analyzed and then interventions should be undertaken to improve these aspects of the nursing environment and minimize items that le...
Stevens, S. (2002, September-October). Nursing workforce retention: Challenging a bullying culture. Health Affairs, 21 (5), 189–193. http://dx.doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.21.5.189
Since the 1990’s, the interest in nursing and the profession as a whole has decreased dramatically and is still expected to do so over the next 10-15 years according to some researchers. With this nursing shortage, many factors are affected. Organizations have to face challenges of low staffing, higher costs for resources, recruiting and reserving of registered nurses, among liability issues as well. Some of the main issues arising from this nurse shortage are the impact of quality and continuity of care, organizational costs, the effect it has on nursing staff, and etc. However, this not only affects an organization and community, but affects the nurses the same. Nurses are becoming overwhelmed and are questioning the quality of care that each patient deserves. This shortage is not an issue that is to be taken lightly. The repercussions that are faced by both nurses and the organization are critical. Therefore, state funding should be implemented to private hospitals in order to resolve the shortage of nurses. State funds will therefore, relieve the overwhelming burdens on the staff, provide a safe and stress free environment for the patient, and allow appropriate funds needed to keep the facility and organization operational.
The shortage occurred in the United States and other continents like Asia and Africa. During this time, some of the nursing positions were cut because of the managed care demands that curtailed both the private and public sector about the issue of insurance reimbursement rates in most of the hospitals (MacLean et al., 2014). Most of the decision-makers in the hospitals did not have a good understanding of the issue of nursing, and they implemented plans that increased the workloads of the individual registered nurses. Currently, the nurses that remain underpowered lack professional resources of fighting efficiently against the
However, upon securing a job, they find that things on the ground are not as they had expected them to be and this results in some of them deciding to leave the profession early. Research shows that turnovers within the nursing fraternity target person below the age of 30 (Erickson & Grove, 2011). The high turnover within the nursing fraternity results in a massive nurse shortage. This means that the nurses who decide to stay have to work for many hours resulting in exhaustion. A significant percent of nurses quitting their job sites exhaustion and discouragement as the reason that contributed to their decision. In one of the studies conducted on the issue of nurse turnover, 50% of the nurses leaving the profession argued that they felt saddened and discouraged by what they were unable to do for their patients (Erickson & Grove, 2011). When a nurse witness his/her patients suffering but cannot do anything because of the prevailing conditions he/she feels as if he/she is not realizing the reason that prompted him/her to join the nursing profession. The higher rate of nursing turnover is also affecting the quality of care nurses provide to
In addition to concerns about the adequacy of the supply of nurses the financial impact of high turnover was startling. According to Jones (2005) Using the updated Nursing Turnover Cost Calculation Methodology, the per RN true cost of nurse turnover is calculated to be 1.2–1.3 times the RN annual salary. That estimate is derived from a retrospective, descriptive study of external RN turnover cost data at an acute care hospital with over 600 beds. The findings indicate that the three highest cost categories were vacancy, orientation and training and newly hired RN productivity. (as cited in Kooker & Kamikawa, C. 2011). For example, At the Queen’s Medical Center, the annual salary of an experienced RN is currently $91,520. Therefore, using the
This feeling has become extremely prevalent among nurses today. It is institutional responsible to resolve every possible cause for moral distress which is a huge contributor to nurse burnout. Otherwise, they are at risk of losing quality hard-working employees (Wagner, 2015). According to one of the studies, “43% of surgical nurses who reported high levels of burnout said they intended to leave their jobs within the next 12 months. In comparison, 11% of nurses who were not burned out stated they still intended to leave their jobs” (Abendroth,
The nursing profession is becoming very challenging to nurses nationwide, when the health care system is constantly changing. The nursing staffing issue is becoming an increasing global issue in hospitals and long term care facilities. Patient acuity in the hospital is growing rapidly, the patient acuity determines the level of care a patient needs, the higher the acuity, the more care is needed or required. The higher acuity results in high demand for nursing care which then resulted in increased workload, burnout and job dissatisfaction. There is an alarming concern of nurse shortage and retention in our hospitals nationwide which could seriously affect overall patient outcome.
Finally, a more obvious and direct cause of nurse turnover is overall dissatisfaction with the current job. This can be for numerous reasons related to pay, benefits, job growth availability, lack of autonomy, or simply feeling unappreciated. According to one source, “a 2014 survey of more than 3,300 nurses found that they were stressed, overworked, underappreciated, and underutilized” (Fischer, 2016). No matter the reason a nurse chooses to leave their job, the negative outcomes remain the same. The most common of these outcomes are that hospitals lose money, it decreases patient quality of care, and it continues the cycle of more turnover in the nursing profession. “It is predicted that there will be a shortage of nearly 1 million nurses in the United States by 2020” (Hunt, 2009). Hospitals are impacted financially by the high nurse turnover rates. “The financial costs of losing a single nurse has been calculated to equal about twice the nurse’s annual salary” (Hunt, 2009). With these numbers in mind, the hospital spending more money to retain nurses could be a smart and beneficial action for them to
Nurse retention is a world-wide issue and should be one at the forefront of every nurse manager’s agenda as nursing shortages are being felt in numerous hospitals across the United States. According to Buffington, Zwink, Fink, DeVine and Sanders (2012) creating an organizational culture and environment that is committed to registered nurse (RN) retention is one strategy to reduce nurse turnover. Twigg and McCullough (2014) concur, as research reveals strategies promoting a positive work environment improves both nurse retention rates and quality of care for patients. Nurse leaders and managers play a critical role in developing this positive practice environment (Twigg & McCullough, 2014). Initiatives specifically aimed at empowering nurses within an organization through encouraging participation in hospital affairs, promoting autonomy, and valuing individual well-being, have all been linked to increased job satisfaction, consequently promoting a more positive work environment (Twigg &
The fundamental actions of hospitals and other healthcare organizations depend on the role of nurses. In the modern day healthcare settings, nurses are the ones who determine the quality of services provided to patients. However, they face some major challenges that are threatening to reduce their effectiveness and efficiency towards meeting organizational goals. One of these significant problems is burnout, which comes as a result of unending work pressures that are ineffectively handled. Burnout is defined as emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion, which occurs when nurses experience intense stress, but over an extended period of time it will lead to increased turnover rates. Burnout is considered as a psychological
Part of the high rate of turnover in nurses is because of their experience being exposed to traumatising situation and death. As an RN, they are exposed to patients being in critical condition in health and witnessing their death. “I was talking to the patient to support him, and his wife was stroking his face and crying softly. After about 30 mins he quietly 'passed away'. His wife noticed the change” (madwife2002's Nursing Blog). This phrases the time a nurse had experienced a patient’s death only with its wife. Nurses also deal with stress over their working environment, dealing with many patients and providing support for their patients. Nurses under the pressure can tend to disable them to work its task, they can harm people and will have lack of health. Stress can lead to depression, isolation from their patients. Stress can also cause tiredness, harsh behaviour, lack of job satisfaction, lack of self-confidence, anxiety, and high blood pressure. (PMC). The high rate of turnover in nursing is also caused by nurses ageing out. Most nurses start retiring at the age of 60 depending on the position they work. According to All-Nurses website, most nurses in the jobs that are no older than 50 to 60 years old are working. Rarely there would be a 70-80 years old working. Ageing out leads to turnover along with the different shift hours
Introduction“High turnover for direct care staff, recently measured at 71% for the nation’s nursing homes is acostly problem” (Bishop, C. E., Weinberg, D. B., Leutz, W., Dossa, A., Pfefferle, S. G., &Zincavage, R. M. 2008, p. 1/15). The recruitment, training, and screening process is costly fornursing homes. It has been estimated to cost nursing homes $2,500 to go through this processwith a new employee. The initial cost is not the only thing that the nursing homes lose. Lossesinclude the prior CNA’s knowledge of how the nursing home is run, the preferences and needs ofthe residents, and relationships with the residents. The turnover rate directly effects the care thatresidents in extended care facilities receive. Factors that affects the turnover rate is the pay,benefits, staff to resident ratio, and the possibility for growth in the job.
In relation to nursing, burnout can be described as a, “psychological state that is characterized by the following symptoms: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and a decreased perception of personal accomplishment” (Stewart & Terry, 2014, p.37). Burnout can affect anyone, but it is widely prevalent among nurses. This is evident through the percentage of turnover rates in 2016 for registered nurses. According to the National Healthcare Retention and RN Staffing Report it states, “turnover for bedside RNs ranges from 8.8% to 37.0%. The national average RN turnover rate is 17.2%, a 0.8% increase from 2014, with the median being 16.9%” (Colosi, B., 2016, p.8). Burnout in the nursing profession not only affects nurses, but it also affects the
I. The challenge to sustain the supply and demand of the future nursing workforce is more serious than ever.