Strategies to Mitigate Nurse Turnover in Eastern and Northern Virginia

• Main Author: Echoles, Fred E.
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: ScholarWorks 2016
• Subjects: Business; Health and Medical Administration; Nursing
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/3091; https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4194&context=dissertations

Registered nurses leaving the workplace are estimated to cost healthcare organizations and society between $1.4 and $2.1 billion annually. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore what strategies leaders of healthcare organizations from the Eastern and Northern regions of Virginia can use to mitigate the effects of nurse turnover and its cost to the organization. The target population consisted of 8 RNs who experienced turnover during their nursing careers. The conceptual framework for this study was Herzberg's dual-factor theory. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted and publically available documents were garnered. Thematic reduction of participants' interviews, coupled with data triangulation between narratives and publically available documents resulted in the emergence of 4 common themes: immediate nurse supervisor training, staff support within departments, nurse pay commensurate with the time demands, and education requirements. All participants cited burnout, stress, and career development as reasons for seeking new employment, and the topics of pay and staffing had high frequencies of occurrence. The RNs interviewed expressed nurses have different sources of satisfaction and these sources affect motivation and intent to leave. Social implications include providing insights into conditions that could strengthen the healthcare workplace environment and contribute to patient care improvements, reduce turnover costs, and increased productivity. Improved retention could also result in greater stability of the RN workforce in health care organizations.