Nurse Retention Literature Review

Nursing retention of the experienced nurse is a common problem in many acute care hospitals. With the recent increase in nursing graduates and, there is still expected to be a nursing shortage of 260, 000 nurses between 2018 and 2025 (Buerhaus, Auerbach & Staiger, 2009, p. 663). The financial impact related to nurse turnover is astronomical; the cost of replacing a nurse costs anywhere between $42,000 and $64,000 dollars (Lynn & Redman, 2005). To properly stabilize staffing in order to operate a high-reliability organization and provide high-quality and safe patient care it is imperative to retain the nursing staff. Nurse retention is more important than ever before with the constantly changing healthcare environment. There is a gap in the literature when it comes to data and evidence related to the experienced nurse and retention. A lot of the literature that is available specifically focuses on the new graduate nurse and nurse residency programs. There definitely needs to be a larger focus on data collection and more specific outcomes that relate to retention. With the upcoming nursing shortage, retention is extremely important. Not only can nurses help with the nursing quality indicators such as falls, pressure ulcers, and central line infections, they also have a
huge impact when it comes to decreasing 30-day readmissions and to assist with overall population health. In order to assist with these extremely important measures we must be able to retain the experienced nurse at an organizational level. With the aging workforce and the projected nursing shortage, experienced nurses are essential within the nursing profession. Without the experienced nurses, new graduate nurses will not have a skilled preceptor to share his or her knowledge, experience and expertise with. In order to retain the baby boomers, it is important that they feel needed and that they have maintained a sense of belonging (Armstrong-Stasses, Cameron, Rajacich, & Freeman, 2014, p. 212). A study done by Palmer (2012) show that many nurses left his or her position related to salary.
There are many issues related to decreased nursing retention, and nursing retention is multi-factorial.
Nurse staffing levels have been directly linked to decrease retention (Hairr, Salisbury, Johnannsson, & Redfern- Vance, 2014, p. 142). Job satisfaction is a key factor in retaining the experienced nurse. If a nursing unit has a large vacancy, secondary turnover becomes a concern. Quality patient care is negatively impacted by a decreased nursing staff. According to Buffington, Zwink, Fink, DeVine, Sanders (2012) some of the factors that affect retention are unhealthy work environments, scheduling and the ability to self-schedule, rewards/recognition, leadership, and availability of
mentors.
With nursing retention being one of the top priorities at many organizations there is no better time than the present to look at factors that can help retain our nurses. Recognition and rewards seemed to have the biggest impact on nurse retention (Buffington, Zwink, Fink, and DeVine, & Sanders, 2012, p.276). Positive feedback is necessary for retaining nursing staff. By improving retention, hospitals will see a decrease in patient harm and an increase in staff satisfaction. With the upcoming nursing shortage nursing retention is extremely important. It has been proven that nursing retention leads to increased quality measures and employee recognition leads to increased retention, employee recognition methods must be identified, isolated for evaluation, and improved to optimize outcomes.