Month: January 2024

Nurses contribute significantly to the healthcare system through their important roles in patient care, clinical trials, and research.  

Although the demand for nursing skills continues to rise, not enough people are choosing nursing roles. From 2018 to 2022, thousands of nurses quit their jobs either during the initial stages of their careers or before their retirement age. According to an analysis from the Royal College of Nursing, almost 43,000 nursing staff, especially midwives aged 21- 50, have left the profession.

If you’re in charge of hiring at a healthcare organization, you probably have been having trouble finding enough nurses to staff your facilities for some time.

At Capleo Global, we recognize the difficulties faced by medical organizations in filling nurse positions. We’ve discovered a few practical strategies to assist your facility in luring in enough nurses to deliver reliable, superior care. 

In this blog, we share with you a few strategic methods to retain nurses, but first, let us look at the different reasons nurses quit their jobs. 

Reasons for Nurses Quitting Their Job

Burnout and extreme workload 

There is a huge burnout in the nursing industry which forces them to quit their jobs. According to one study with the pandemic in mind, 11% of nurses wanted to leave their existing positions, and 20% of the population was unsure whether they would stay or leave. 

According to a nationwide study, 55% of healthcare workers feel too much workload and burnout. Other additional issues that burden the nurses include extended shifts, constant pressure, intricate documentation, and lack of support from leadership. 

Job Dissatisfaction

This can stem from a lack of recognition and autonomy and causes a feeling of dissatisfaction which in turn leads to becoming disheartened and disengaged. When facing a nursing shortage, they might face additional stress and heavier workloads with long shifts can intensify the feelings of underappreciatedness, leading to higher levels of job dissatisfaction often affecting nurses’ commitment.

Lack of Professional Development

Nurses need great opportunities to thrive, survive, grow professionally, and to develop their skills. However, in organizations, nurses need to be given the freedom to explore and gain knowledge that offers professional development that leads to a sense of stunted growth in the career graph.

If the nurses are not provided with opportunities, they cannot enhance their clinical competency nor boost confidence in tackling complex cases. This will further hinder their advancement and diminish their loyalty to an employer.

Getting Better Pay and Benefits

Though there is an intensifying nursing shortage it helps the nurses and puts them at a career advantage. Due to a high requirement for nurses, they have more options for where they work. Many healthcare providers are now looking for roles with much greater perks like greater compensation, such as travel nursing, or positions with more flexibility, and more.

Shortage of Experienced Nurses

The working conditions of the nurses are subpar and stressful leading the skilled nurses to look for work elsewhere. Therefore, the healthcare agency is forced to hire young and freshly graduated nurses due to the nursing shortage who are not competent to fill the vacancy. 

Inadequate Communication

Open and effective communication is necessary to support a harmonious workplace for nurses. However, nurses are often left out of the loop about gravely important decisions, like changes in policies, or patient care plans, and their morale can suffer. This lack of communication leads to confusion and frustration which erodes job satisfaction.

Nurses Feel Undervalued at Their Workplace

The young nurses who freshly graduated are under a lot of stress and feel undervalued at work. According to a recent survey conducted on the pandemic’s impact on nurses, only 19% of nurses under the age of 35 feel that their organization cares about their well-being. So, the sense of feeling undervalued and overwhelmed leads to the nurses quitting an organization.

Patient-to-nurse ratios Are High

The nurses are compelled to take on more patients than they can handle. And, according to a survey, 84% of emergency department nurses and 96% of ICU nurses are reported to be in a ratio of 4:1. That is more than the suggested ratio and they can hurt patient outcomes, including hospital mortality. 

How to retain nurses

Secure Nurse Talent with Strategic Methods

As we have observed in the above paragraphs the shortage of nurses is due to many reasons and to counter it, we have to understand the measures to retain our nurses. 

Nurture Professional Development

Nurses need to be nurtured to have professional growth in their careers. They can be nurtured by the provision of continuous education opportunities, career path planning, and mentorship programs that will build a lot of self-confidence. With flexible scheduling for education, the nurses are encouraged to put in time for certifications, obtain clinical skill training, and search for research opportunities that will further help them gain recognition and rewards. They can establish more with the help of regular performance feedback.

Understand Their Priorities

It is also important to understand the nurse’s priorities and reduce overall stress for them to work in a beneficial environment helping the patients and other healthcare providers.

These priorities include providing nurses with an adequate ratio equal to patients for the right patient care, helping nurses to communicate, document, have the right to advocacy, scope for education, chance to think critically, manage time efficiently, and collaborate with other medical practitioners. This will ultimately lead to professional development and understanding them can help forge a bond of compassion and empathy within their work.

Reward with the Right Remuneration

To retain experienced veteran nurses, it is crucial to express appreciation. This may involve salary enhancements, extra benefits, verbal acknowledgment, or a combination of all three.

It is necessary to reward nurses with the right remuneration as it is crucial for recognizing them and ensuring fair compensation and job satisfaction. The few components included in a comprehensive remuneration package include giving a base salary, and differential pay. Additional perks include bonuses and incentives, healthcare benefits, retirement plans, paid time off as support for continuation of education, tuition reimbursement, and others. 

Support with the Right Training

It is important to train nurses to stay current with the latest medical practices. It will enhance their skills and help provide optimal patient care. There are some key areas to consider when providing support for training nurses by initiating continuous education programs, specialized training programs, and providing them with E-learning modules. This, with simulation training and additional online learning platforms, can mold them perfectly. 

Encourage Flexible working.

It is necessary to create a flexible culture that values and promotes the nurses’ time and promotes a positive and adaptive healthcare environment. This can lead to a workplace with high employee satisfaction and enhanced work-life balance. This can build a resilient workforce by acknowledging the nurses’ diverse preferences in a company. And it can also have a positive impact on recruitment by acting as the best retention strategy which can benefit from continuous improvement.

Conclusion

It is necessary to foster a culture that prioritizes retention for nurses as important for sustaining a resilient and dedicated healthcare workforce. This requires a multifaceted approach by acknowledging the diverse needs of nursing staff which will also improve the quality of life of patient care. If you are looking forward to serving the world’s health and hiring nurses, do not contemplate and accept our services today by contacting us @ www.capleoglobal.com.