NurseRegistry Presents a Number of Nurse Retention Strategies

NurseRegistry, a nurse staffing agency in Palo Alto, CA, has released a blog post that offers a number of nurse retention strategies to avoid the crisis of having insufficient nursing staff. They want to emphasize that nurse retention is a key issue in the healthcare industry because a high nurse turnover rate can have a negative impact on the quality of healthcare and patient outcomes. This may also result in increased stress on staffing coordinators, nurse managers, and other staff members. Fortunately, the steps and actions they describe can be used to relieve some of these concerns.

The article states, “In the medical profession, the retention of nurses is more important than ever. Nurse retention rates are indicators of job satisfaction, morale, and team cohesion. The growing nursing shortage, which is expected to reach over one million nurses needed by 2030, has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. High turnover rates can lead to staffing shortages, decreased morale, and increased workload for remaining staff.”

According to the Advisory Board, the current US national turnover rate for RNs is 22.5 percent. While this is lower by around 5 percent compared to the value in 2021, it is higher by 4 percent compared to the 2020 value. An important contributor to nurse turnover is nurse burnout. This can be caused by several factors, such as high workload due to poor patient ratios, lack of support from management, and inadequate staffing.

Even if the high nurse turnover experienced is only temporary, it forces high-quality nurses to cover more shifts which could result in their looking for new work opportunities, too. By applying strategies for preventing burnout, such as offering sufficient staffing levels, providing support programs, and promoting self-care, nurses can have a better work-life balance, job satisfaction, and peace of mind.

In the blog post, NurseRegistry lists some strategies on how to reduce nurse turnover. One of the strategies discussed is to identify the primary cause of nurse turnover at the healthcare facility. This will force management to view the facility through the eyes of their nurses. It is also a good idea to consider surveys, exit interviews, and focus groups.

Other strategies include: establishing a shared vision for the nurses; effective leadership and management to help manage stress and prevent burnout; creation of a strong onboarding and orientation program; clear communication; career advancement opportunities; elimination of mandatory overtime; competitive wages and benefits; emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion; and creation of work-life balance initiatives.

They also want to point out that NurseRegistry can help with its extensive pool of RNs and LVNs/LPNs in California and Florida who are skilled, experienced, and reliable. This healthcare staffing agency can offer industry-leading scheduling flexibility, allowing the healthcare organization to quickly receive a nurse with the exact skill set they need.

Those who want to know more about nurse retention strategies can visit NurseRegistry's website at https://www.nurseregistry.com/blog/nurse-retention-strategies/ or contact them through the phone or via email.