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DiversityNursing Blog

Investing In New Nurses Improves Retention Rates

Posted by Carlos Perez

Wed, Jan 17, 2024 @ 10:19 AM

Healthcare organizations must recognize the importance of investing in resources and training for graduate Nurses during their first 2 to 3 years of employment in order to retain them in direct patient care roles. While some top Nursing schools are striving to produce practice-ready Nurses, not all graduates possess the expertise needed upon entering the workforce and may require time to build confidence in various situations. Consequently, new Nurse graduates face the highest risk of turn over within their initial years of employment.

In order to retain new Nurses and reduce turnover, it is essential to invest in their training and development. This can be done through programs such as Nurse residencies, mentorship, and access to clinical decision support resources. By providing these resources, healthcare organizations demonstrate their value and support for new Nurses. Collaboration between academia and practice settings is crucial to determine the necessary competencies for beginner Nurses.

The initial period of a Nurse's career is pivotal for their professional development, job satisfaction, and commitment to the organization. Here are some reasons why investing in new Nurses is good for retention:

Training and Development Opportunities

Offering comprehensive training programs is essential in equipping new Nurses with the skills and knowledge they need to excel in their roles. By providing ongoing professional development opportunities, healthcare organizations demonstrate a commitment to the growth and success of their Nursing staff, fostering a sense of value and investment in their development.

Mentorship Programs

Introducing mentorship programs connects novice nurses with seasoned mentors, fostering a nurturing atmosphere for growth and adaptation. Mentorship goes beyond imparting knowledge and helps Nurses feel a sense of inclusion, empowering them to navigate the demands of their roles with confidence and effectiveness.

Competitive Compensation and Benefits

Providing competitive salaries and attractive benefits is a clear indication of the organization's appreciation for the invaluable contribution of its staff. Adequate compensation plays a vital role in retaining highly skilled and motivated Nurses, ensuring their continued commitment to the organization's success.

Work-Life Balance

Promoting a harmonious work-life balance not only enhances Nurse satisfaction but also mitigates the risk of burnout. Implementing policies that prioritize scheduling flexibility, reasonable work hours, and ample time off significantly contribute to the overall well-being of Nurses.

Recognition and Appreciation

Acknowledging and valuing the hard work and dedication of new Nurses cultivates a nurturing work environment. Consistently providing feedback and recognizing their contributions not only instills a sense of pride but also enhances job satisfaction.

Career Advancement Opportunities

Creating a roadmap for career progression within the organization not only motivates new Nurses to stay for the long haul but also demonstrates a dedication to their professional development. Offering avenues for advancement, such as promotions, leadership positions, or specialized training, indicates a commitment to nurturing their growth and success.

Supportive Work Environment

Fostering a nurturing and inclusive work environment builds a strong sense of camaraderie among staff. Proactively addressing concerns such as Nurse bullying or workplace incivility plays a significant role in cultivating a positive workplace culture that values respect and collaboration.

Wellness Programs

Investing in wellness programs that prioritize the physical and mental well-being of staff showcases a genuine dedication to their overall health. These programs encompass a range of resources, such as stress management tools, mental health support, and initiatives promoting fitness and well-being.

Feedback Mechanisms

Encouraging a culture of open communication allows new Nurses to freely express their concerns, share valuable feedback, and actively contribute to the ongoing improvements within the workplace. By promoting an environment of transparency and responsiveness, healthcare organizations not only enhance job satisfaction but also create a strong foundation for collaboration and growth.

Investing in new Nurses not only supports their professional development but also creates a positive work environment that contributes to overall job satisfaction and retention. Organizations prioritizing the well-being and growth of their Nursing staff are likely to see increased loyalty and reduced turnover.

Topics: new nurses, new nurse, retention rate, retention, nurse retention, retain nurses, hospital retention rates

Good Retention Requires Strong DEI Culture

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Mon, Dec 13, 2021 @ 11:25 AM

GettyImages-1293236750Creating a workplace with a strong Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive culture is not only the right thing, it’s also crucial for your retention and improving patient care.

A study from Press Ganey shows health systems with strong Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) values have less risk of staff potentially leaving the organization.

The study also found:

  • Healthcare organizations had twice as many employees at risk of leaving if the workforce perceived diversity and equity weren’t prioritized versus work forces that do.  
  • The risk of leaving within 3 years is more than 4 times higher for healthcare workers who believe their organization doesn’t value employees from different backgrounds versus workers who do.  
  • If offered another job, healthcare workers are 4 ½ times more likely to leave an organization if they believe different backgrounds aren’t valued, or if the organization isn’t committed to workforce diversity, versus workers who do.   
  • Perceptions of diversity & equity are a bigger indicator of intent to stay with an organization among security personnel, nurses and physicians than other ancillary staff. 

Having a strong DEI culture allows employees to be comfortable and confident in who they are. This allows them to focus on providing the best patient care possible.

Research shows, 77% of employees and 80% of leaders who are disabled chose not to share their disability in their workplace. For LGBTQ workers, 46% are closeted at their place of work. And across all diverse characteristics, 75% of employees feel the need to mask their differences or downplay them during work.

Employees masking or hiding aspects of themselves during shifts affects their confidence, motivation, feelings of safety and hinders their job performance.

It’s important for healthcare workers to have mentors they can look up to throughout their careers. A lack of diversity can make it difficult for minority healthcare workers to find role models they identify with. This can impact their professional growth and their ability to provide optimal patient care.

A strong DEI culture isn’t something that can be achieved overnight. It requires a leadership who is dedicated to promoting cultural awareness and inclusion. It requires staff who are willing to take the time to learn about and understand each other. It also means being willing to identify and address biases.

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Topics: diversity, retention, nurse retention, diversity inclusion and belonging, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, DEI, workplace culture, hospital retention rates, diversity equity inclusion

These Factors Influence Retention of Newly Licensed Nurses In Hospitals

Posted by Erica Bettencourt

Thu, Aug 04, 2016 @ 03:10 PM

Nurse_Retention.jpgIf your hospital is experiencing high turnover among your newly licensed Nurses, this article may give you an idea of why they’re leaving and areas where you can improve your work environment.

Some factors influencing low unit-level turnover: first professional degree was a baccalaureate or higher, greater variety and autonomy, and better perceived RN-MD relations

“About 80% of newly licensed nurses find their first work in hospitals,” says New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU Meyers) Professor Christine T. Kovner, PhD, RN, FAAN. “Turnovers are one of the costliest expenditures in our profession. In fact, costs are estimated at $62,000 to $67,000 per departure, amounting to $1.4 to 2.1 billion in expenses for new nurses who leave their first jobs within three years of starting.”

Prior research on newly licensed nurses tended to focus on organizational turnover, where a nurse leaves the hospital or organization. However, there is scant literature on internal or unit-level turnover, which occurs when a nurse leaves their current assignment to take up new roles or positions within the organization or hospital.

Recently, Dr. Kovner led a team of researchers at NYU Meyers and the School of Nursing at SUNY Buffalo in conducting a study to fill in the gaps. Published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies, the study of a nationally representative sample of new nurses working in hospitals, sought to better inform unit-level retention strategies by pinpointing factors associated with job retention among newly licensed nurses.

“The internal turnover rate for the one year between the two waves of the survey was nearly 30%,” said Dr. Kovner. “This turnover is in addition to those leaving the organization. This figure is substantially larger than previously reported in other studies, which estimated a 13% one-year internal turnover rate among new nurses.”

The researchers looked to bolster the existing evidence on internal turnover to determine precursors to remaining on the same title and unit-type from the first to the second year of employment.

The nurses (n=1,569) were classified into four categories based their unit and title retention. 1090 nurses (69.5%) remained in the same title and unit-type at wave two, while 129 (8.2%) saw a change in title, but not in unit-type. A similarly small group of 185 (11.8%) had no change in title, but changed unit-types, while 165 (10.5%) had a change in their title and unit-type.

In addition to collecting the new nurses’ demographical data, Dr. Kovner and her team assessed their perceptions of their work environment in both surveys.

“In doing this we were able to examine the changes in work environment perceptions over time between nurses who remained in the same unit and title to those who changed unit and/or title,” said Dr. Kovner.

Upon analysis, the researchers found five factors most strongly associated with retention: holding more than one job for pay (negative), first professional degree was a baccalaureate or higher, negative affectivity, greater variety and autonomy, and better perceived RN-MD relations, all positively related.

“Our results point to the variables on which managers can focus to improve unit-level retention of new nurses,” said Kovner.

Related Article: Fellowship Program Improves New Nurse Retention, Nets Savings

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Funding. Funding for this research was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
www.nyu.edu

Topics: retention rate, retention

Nurse Shortage Trends

Posted by Wilson Nunnari

Fri, May 04, 2012 @ 01:47 PM

Adapated from a WBUR radio series. Links to Audio can be found below.

 

America's nursing shortage has been compared to a perfect storm gathering in intensity. In just over a decade nearly 80 million baby boomers will be in or reaching retirement, their medical needs placing an immense strain on our health care system. Nurses themselves will be leaving the profession and a younger generation of nurses will not be trained in enough numbers to fill the growing needs of hospitals and patients.

In "Nursing a Shortage: Inside Out," WBUR Special correspondent Rachel Gotbaum reports on how the shortage has come about and why it matters for nurses, hospitals and patients alike. She takes us into hospitals where the longest running nursing shortage in history is already impacting care. She reports on the roots of the problem that encompass not just the changing career choices for young women, the out-dated image of nursing but also the serious difficulties faced by nursing schools trying to find nurse-educators.

Nurses explain the effect of the shortage on their care of patients and how it is influencing their commitment to the profession and whether they stay or leave. Hospital administrators describe what they need to do to recruit and retain nurses in this competitive market , and Gotbaum reports on the growing tensions over whether mandating nurse-patient ratios is an answer to the problem or an impediment.

There have been shortages of nurses in this country since the 1960's but they have always resolved themselves fairly quickly. This nursing shortage began in 1998. Although it has been slightly alleviated it is expected to get worse when considering the increased retirement rates expected in coming years.

80 million baby boomers are slated to retire in the next decade and they will need a lot more medical care. At the same time many experienced nurses will be leaving the profession. The shortage began after managed care ushered in an era of cost cutting in the early 1990s. Nurses were replaced by lesser skilled workers. In Massachusetts 27 percent of hospital nurses were laid off, the largest number in the country. The profession became unattractive to women who began to have many other career choices. But as nurses left the workforce, studies showed that patient care suffered. One study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that patients whose nurse cares for 8 or more people have a 30 percent greater chance of dying than if their nurse cares for four patients. The same nurses are also more likely to be burnt out and dissatisfied with their jobs.

As hospitals started experiencing acute shortages of nurses, they responded by raising salaries and offering bonuses to nurses to enter the profession. Media campaigns were launched to extol the attractions of nursing. By 2003 185 thousand registered nurses entered this nation's hospital workforce. But even with this huge influx of nurses the shortage in 2007 still existed, and as demand for nurses increases many agree the gap will steadily grow. The number of registered nurses increased from approximately 2.5 million in 2007 to under 2.7 million in 2011. Despite this increase, some states are fighting about whether to mandate nurse-to-patient ratios. The number of new nurses is influenced by a large number of external factors so pinpointing the cause is difficult, but the significance of the increase is more important. Although 200,000 sounds like a lot of nurses, this is only an 8% increase. Just as important as the number of nurses is the number of patients which rose almost 10% from 2007 to 2008 alone according to the National Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.

Audio Links Click Here

______________________________________________________________________________ 

How do you think these numbers compare to what you observe in hospitals and health care facilities? Do you think legislation is the best way to solve nurse-to-patient ratios? This creates a demand for nurses but not necessarily the supply.

Topics: disparity, hiring, Workforce, employment, nursing, Articles, Employment & Residency, healthcare, nurse, nurses, retain, retention

Top 5 Challenges Facing Nursing in 2012

Posted by Pat Magrath

Tue, May 01, 2012 @ 07:39 AM

2010 may have been the year when enormous healthcare changes began, but 2011 was the year these changes hit nursing. In addition, the Institute of Medicine's landmark Future of Nursing report was released at the end of 2010 and much of this year has been spent digesting its recommendations and searching for ways to put them into practice.
2012
Here's a quick rundown of the most pressing issues for Nursing in 2012:

1. Advanced degrees are no longer optional

The IOM's recommendation for 80% of all RNs to have a baccalaureate degree by 2020 has not veered too intensely into the old ADN vs. BSN quagmire. Instead, the profession is focusing on ways to engage nurses in lifelong learning so that associate degree nurses can find realistic ways to obtain BSN degrees.

In addition, BSN nurses are encouraged to be leaders in evidence-based practice and research and it's becoming more common—and crucially, more expected—for nurses to pursue master's degrees. And the creation of the doctor of nursing practice degree has taken off better than anyone could have expected.

In the last six months, any time nurse executives get together, the conversation always turns to who has already entered a program and how long it's going to take the rest of the group to do so.

 
2. Patient engagement gets real

If you haven't found a way to drive home the importance of patient experience to direct-care nurses, find it now. You know how much reimbursement is at stake, but the rank and file caregivers still don't get it. The term "patient experience" has a way of annoying bedside caregivers. '"We're not Disneyworld," is a common refrain; people don't want to be in the hospital. "I'm here to save patients' lives, not entertain them," is another common complaint.  

Experience isn't about mollycoddling patients, however, or how flashy the in-room entertainment system is and that's what you need to help nurses understand. In fact, the nurse-patient relationship has always been about patient experience.

Your best nurses instinctively know this. They already create a good patient experience. They help patients understand their care, involve families in decision-making, coordinate multidisciplinary care, sit with patients to explain complex diagnoses, and even, occasionally, have time to offer a quick hug or hand to hold. These are the nurses who get letters from patients and families after discharge and these letters are all about the patient experience.

This is how you need to phrase patient experience with nursing staff so they understand it's not just a program, but a way of life. At the same time, nursing needs to own the cause. They may not be responsible for it in isolation, but they are literally at the center of this issue. They should take the lead and drive the agenda.

3. Patient safety

Just as nurses should own patient experience, they need to feel ownership for patient safety as well. It has been written that "quality improvement becomes one more meaningless directive from 'above' unless nurses feel engaged in the process, involved in the plans, and accountable for the results."

Preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAI) is no longer simply the right thing to do, it's become the only financially viable option. Unless nurses are educated and empowered, real progress cannot be made.

4. Cost cutting

Nursing knows that hiring freezes and layoffs are a constant threat and healthcare organizations are forced to put cost cutting at the top of the agenda in 2012. As the largest budget in the organization, nursing is an easy target.

Organizations can get more agile with staffing and scheduling and find creative ways to reduce cost while maximizing efficiency. Embrace change and flexibility to create the mobile, agile workforce healthcare organizations need to adapt to changing economic realities and increases in patient population.

At the same time, staffing budgets can't be viewed in isolation. There are direct links between nurse staffing and length of stay, patient mortality, readmissions, adverse events, fatigue-related errors, patient satisfaction, employee satisfaction, and turnover. This article examines the danger of considering the cost of nurse staffing without looking at everything else. It's important to understand the relationship between length of stay, unreimbursed never events, and nurse staffing to understand the whole picture.

5. Retention

It's been said before, but ignore retention at your peril. The nursing shortage hasn't gone away simply because the recession has eased its immediate effects. We all know the turnover rate for new graduate nurses is always high, so invest in nurse residency programs that have proven results for retention and for increasing the competency of new nurses.

Topics: diversity, nursing, hispanic nurse, nurse, nurses, retain, retention

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