5 thoughts on “Policy Options Brief on Nurse Retention”
Susan and Shannon,
I enjoyed reading your policy options briefs. As both of you pointed out, retaining nurses is an important issue and many hospitals are always looking for ways to keep their qualified staff on board. It is important for building strong teams and for providing excellent, quality patient centered care. The experienced nurse can bring a lot of knowledge to their peers, to the novice nurse, and to the unit as a whole. Which is part of the reason to retain good dedicated staff. They are good candidates to be part of the shared governance council you wrote about. The novice nurse is equally important to be part of this or any committee and for retention. Many times they bring fresh ideas and are very enthusiastic. We need to nurture and mentor new staff.
Your second option increasing the number of RN’s on staff is also so important and if being short staffed is an issue right now in your hospital then it might be the first problem to attack. Inappropriate staffing ratios can lead to errors, complications, increased mortality, nurse burnout, decrease in patient satisfaction, high turnover rates and decreased job satisfaction. Adequate staffing levels has been shown to reduce medical and medication errors, decrease patient complications, decrease mortality, improve patient satisfaction, reduce nurse fatigue, decrease nurse burnout and improve retention and job satisfaction.
The facility where I am employed also has a clinical ladder and I agree with you the nurses need to be re-educated on how this ladder works. They also need to take ownership as well on ways they can contribute in order to move up. Look forward to hearing your presentation.
Shannon and Susan, I read your Policy Options Brief on Nurse Retention. I believe you made a strong argument for the need to have proper RN staffing levels. You provided evidence on nurse moral, patient moral, patient safety, increased risk of adverse events with decreased nurse surveillance. You also adequately discussed the quality measures and decreased reimbursement if quality measures are not met. It is a vicious cycle, nurse retention costs money. But fewer nurses, decreased surveillance, and increased adverse events costs the organization money also.
I do have a question, in paragraph 5 of your Brief (p. 2). You list the issues staff nurses find important followed by the issues nurse administrators reported. Both lists are the same but in different order. Is this a ranking? Thank you for the clarification.
Your 3 options are clear and well supported. Shared Governance will increase moral and help to retain the nurses that will be hired in option 2. I don’t believe 1 option alone with take care of this issue. The organization will need to see the financial benefits, increased patient safety, and improved quality metrics to make these valuable adjustments.
Thank you.
Yes they are ranked. Thank you for pointing that out.
Hi Shannon and Susan,
As a RN myself I found your policy brief very interesting. Your research supports your case for the seriousness of the problem sufficiently. The three policy options that you mentioned are excellent. I’m totally for Shared Governance as that is the professional practice model my unit uses. Evidence has suggested that shared governance results in: increased nurse satisfaction with shared decision making, increased professional autonomy and increased staff retention. Increase in staff and patient satisfaction and a better financial status for the unit. Shared Governance has lead to nurse autonomy, nurse empowerment, control over nursing practice, nursing job satisfactoin and improved patient outcomes . I would consider this option the best option in moving forward at this time, as I have seen first hand how successful it can be. I believe that after listening to your presentation and having read this brief I will have all the information I would need to make a decision.
Thank you,
Katie
Hi Shannon and Susan,
Great job. I am a nurse too and find that nurse retention is a major issue. I believe that as we graduate and look into management positions of our own this will still be one of the most challenging areas of our job. I like the 3 options that you brought up. My hospital has a specific committee that focuses on recruitment and retention of nurses. I believe it works very well actually. It brings our unit together in ways not ever practiced before. My suggestion for another possible policy would be to increase the time and money spent on the initial hires. I wouldn’t say to use the form of bonuses because I believe that they only last as long as the bonus itself lasts. I would invest in the orientation process. Have an open day a month where new hires can freely express all of their concerns about where they work. This will help the nurse managers identify specific problems before they begin to effect the morale of the entire unit and or hospital.
I think you did a great job. Look forward to your presentation.
Susan and Shannon,
I enjoyed reading your policy options briefs. As both of you pointed out, retaining nurses is an important issue and many hospitals are always looking for ways to keep their qualified staff on board. It is important for building strong teams and for providing excellent, quality patient centered care. The experienced nurse can bring a lot of knowledge to their peers, to the novice nurse, and to the unit as a whole. Which is part of the reason to retain good dedicated staff. They are good candidates to be part of the shared governance council you wrote about. The novice nurse is equally important to be part of this or any committee and for retention. Many times they bring fresh ideas and are very enthusiastic. We need to nurture and mentor new staff.
Your second option increasing the number of RN’s on staff is also so important and if being short staffed is an issue right now in your hospital then it might be the first problem to attack. Inappropriate staffing ratios can lead to errors, complications, increased mortality, nurse burnout, decrease in patient satisfaction, high turnover rates and decreased job satisfaction. Adequate staffing levels has been shown to reduce medical and medication errors, decrease patient complications, decrease mortality, improve patient satisfaction, reduce nurse fatigue, decrease nurse burnout and improve retention and job satisfaction.
The facility where I am employed also has a clinical ladder and I agree with you the nurses need to be re-educated on how this ladder works. They also need to take ownership as well on ways they can contribute in order to move up. Look forward to hearing your presentation.
Shannon and Susan, I read your Policy Options Brief on Nurse Retention. I believe you made a strong argument for the need to have proper RN staffing levels. You provided evidence on nurse moral, patient moral, patient safety, increased risk of adverse events with decreased nurse surveillance. You also adequately discussed the quality measures and decreased reimbursement if quality measures are not met. It is a vicious cycle, nurse retention costs money. But fewer nurses, decreased surveillance, and increased adverse events costs the organization money also.
I do have a question, in paragraph 5 of your Brief (p. 2). You list the issues staff nurses find important followed by the issues nurse administrators reported. Both lists are the same but in different order. Is this a ranking? Thank you for the clarification.
Your 3 options are clear and well supported. Shared Governance will increase moral and help to retain the nurses that will be hired in option 2. I don’t believe 1 option alone with take care of this issue. The organization will need to see the financial benefits, increased patient safety, and improved quality metrics to make these valuable adjustments.
Thank you.
Yes they are ranked. Thank you for pointing that out.
Hi Shannon and Susan,
As a RN myself I found your policy brief very interesting. Your research supports your case for the seriousness of the problem sufficiently. The three policy options that you mentioned are excellent. I’m totally for Shared Governance as that is the professional practice model my unit uses. Evidence has suggested that shared governance results in: increased nurse satisfaction with shared decision making, increased professional autonomy and increased staff retention. Increase in staff and patient satisfaction and a better financial status for the unit. Shared Governance has lead to nurse autonomy, nurse empowerment, control over nursing practice, nursing job satisfactoin and improved patient outcomes . I would consider this option the best option in moving forward at this time, as I have seen first hand how successful it can be. I believe that after listening to your presentation and having read this brief I will have all the information I would need to make a decision.
Thank you,
Katie
Hi Shannon and Susan,
Great job. I am a nurse too and find that nurse retention is a major issue. I believe that as we graduate and look into management positions of our own this will still be one of the most challenging areas of our job. I like the 3 options that you brought up. My hospital has a specific committee that focuses on recruitment and retention of nurses. I believe it works very well actually. It brings our unit together in ways not ever practiced before. My suggestion for another possible policy would be to increase the time and money spent on the initial hires. I wouldn’t say to use the form of bonuses because I believe that they only last as long as the bonus itself lasts. I would invest in the orientation process. Have an open day a month where new hires can freely express all of their concerns about where they work. This will help the nurse managers identify specific problems before they begin to effect the morale of the entire unit and or hospital.
I think you did a great job. Look forward to your presentation.