The PURPOSE of this thread is to look at reasons staff leave a facilty and what can be done to improve recruitment and retention. Please use our other forums for venting.
A.
Look carefully at applicants. Just because your desperate to fill a vacancy due to retirement/out of state relocation, hiring the next applicant with RN/LPN after their name may not pay off.
Carefully weigh the virtues of a potential hire during the earliest possible stages to save time and money down the road. Waiting until you’ve trained a new recruit to discover he isn’t the right fit is several steps too late.
Organizations should be clear up-front about their compensation model and other policies to minimize surprises, says Westfall. “When things don’t appear the way new employees expected, they can become disillusioned,” she says. Put all the facts on the table and give candidates a true picture of what life will be like in the organization.
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2 years ago I hired an RN who in interview repeatedly made negative references regarding unit she was working on ---coming from facility within our parent organization. She worked for me 1 day, was in ER next day, came in 2 days later and then worked for 3 weeks. Presented me with a doctor note stating need for GYN surgery following week. Expectation was would be off one month as returning to desk job.. At 6 week mark, no message from employee. Contacted her + was informed be back in 2 more weeks. Received letter in mail from FLORIDA location bad mouthing her experience in my office...when I had done nothing but accommidate her needs.
This year another employee from same facility applied for posiiton in my referral office. They also spoke disparingly of facility & patients families "interrupting her work" as discharge planner. Being interrupted is very much a part of discharge planning/referral routine: something she did not accept as part of practice setting. I later took referral from her: not prepared with info I needed, hadn't looked at chart, unaware which services patient neede. Came across as disorganized /burnt out professional (knowing she'd been employeed their 2 years). Staff reported every referral call from her not prepared with info we needed. They did not get a job offer.
B.
Look carefully at other departments. Turnover has been high at one of our branches in past year. Helping to look at issue I discovered volume demands far exceeded staff ability to see cases/day and we unable to "case manage" patients. They were always being pulled in different directions, seing patients unfamilar with, having unresolved calls to docs nesxt day and could not get a rhythm/ routine down. I've suggested to Sr Management that we limit accepting business to our own facilities for three months to stop the employee turnover and allow new staff time for orientation. Will see if mgmt listens. Have a feeling if they don't, we will in short time turn down our own hospitals....never good for business.
C.
Horse first, then cart
Differentiating your organization from the competition can be crucial to keeping good employees....
Still, while making employees’ home life easier is a plus, hospitals should start by concentrating on employees’ time at work. Personal features can help a hospital stand out, but they’re not solutions, warns Abrams. “Services become important when the fundamentals are already being taken care of.”
When was last time employee satisfaction survey administered?
Were results LISTENED too? While new units being developed, is someone looking at need for top to bottom cleaning of older ones along with fresh paint job and replacing worn minor equipment satff deal with daily? Frustraing to have only one working electric thermometer or BP cuff/dynamap .
Any problems ordering and RECEIVING supplies in department? They are time wasters that if not solved will add to daily stress of unit and cause staff to quit out of sheer frustration.
When I started, previous manager had only one incoming and one out going fax machines aong with network printer. Now we have 2 incoming and 2 outgoing fax machines. Insurance verification staff have own printers. Orders are to change fax ink every 10 days in AM instead of wating till copy comes across faded and we need to call referral source to refax forms and spend time waiting for info. Cost of one "lost" referral" average = $500.00 profit to organization while cartridge replacement cost is $35.00.
D:
Give them a boost
Although clinicians may be the most costly replacements for hospitals, entry-level turnover expenses can add up, as well, Yurdin says. The average cost for exchanging an entry-level worker comes to half that employee’s annual salary. Helping entry-level employees develop personally can translate into loyalty,
I always stress our agency's $3,000/yr tuition reimburement plan to new hires and to clerical staff. Many nurses have taken advantage to move form AS to BSN degrees.
Perdiem clerical staff have made great FT hires after being provided additional training and encouragement to try another department too.
Also try to get my staff to sign up for 403b retiement account as system will pay after 3 yrs employment, .50 cents for every dollar saved and after 15 years, .60 cents/dollar! Some clerical staff are missing out on these benefits if not touted yearly.
High stress on unit: providing pizza for shift, cookies and punch in fancy container, ice cream social even if monies out of own Managers pocket still goes long way to saying I care about you and showss you see + are trying to make amends for high volume periods. Godd Friday is holiday for facility. All departments but mine and field staff are off. Since office operated as regular day, facility footed bill for pizza, I supplied sodas + chips and cookies. Not a crumb left and many smilies seen that day.
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Re: People don’t leave their jobs, they leave their manager...
That woman treated us like garbage..........I'd still be there if it weren't for her, but I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of telling her so.
