Nurse Retention..........

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been asked to recommend some ideas at work regarding nurse retention. Since I stay on this site as much as possible, who else better to ask than everyone here.

Other than pay, what makes you stay in your job??

Is it coworkers, management, schedules, the acuity of the patients etc??? I had read something the other night that nurses rank their relationship with their coworkers as their main reason staying in a position. Curious to what you all have to say.

So why do you stay????

Besides Honest Nurse Managers .....recognition for staff members that go above and beyond in their job.Even if its a "thank you " note for the employee called in at the last minute to cover a last minute call out.It lets the staff know you recognize they took time away from their family/home life bc of their dedication to their job.Simple things like that mean alot believe it or not and aid in retention.

Adjusting salaries for market based adustments to make them compar. to other HCF's at least every 2 years.

Strong tuition reimbursement programs that foster continued education and professional growth.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, DD, Peri-op.

I'm going to be leaving my current job because I am moving...but, I've heard many nurses on my floor say that the only reason they stay (it's a hard progressive care unit) is because of their coworkers. Generally, they are a good bunch to work with...very helpful and friendly.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

I stay at my position for a few reason.

1) So far my schedule has been wonderful. Straight days and a reasonable rotation of days on/off.

2). I like the people i work with for the most part. You can tell when someone is not clicking with the unit because moral drops and people start having tiffs amongst themselves regarding assignments, admissions and such. Usually that person leaves fairly quickly and things go back to normal.

3). It's close to home and not having a commute makes things much easier for my family.

4). Having the benefit of being close to home, and working straight days makes what the job may be lacking in pay/hr worth it. But basically the wage is within regional average it think.

5). Ive got enough seniority in that i get a decent amount of vacation time. Having to give that up to start someplace new hasnt made it worth it to me yet.

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Specializes in GI,Rehab, Ortho/Neuro.

Honestly I stay at my current because I don't want to work at the other hospitals in the area. I like my manager and most of my coworkers. I assist with procedures all day, weekends off and holidays. And I will have to admit that I am well paid, but that does not do it for me.

They are trying to change things, slowly. I guess I am just too lazy to leave:clown:

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I'll stay where I am because of respect. I respect my fellow nurses, and they respect me. I have a good working relationship with the physicians. My nursing manager really appreciates the work that we do, and she's approachable if you've got a problem.

The only one that doesn't really show respect is the president of the company, he doesn't condecend to speak to the nursing staff. That really ticks me off, but he's based at another office and I almost never have to deal with the guy.

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Specializes in ICU/CCU/MICU/SICU/CTICU.

These replies are great. Keep em coming!!!

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I stayed at my previous job because:

I loved what I was doing (more than I could ever express in this post)

cafeteria open at night for employees with good to great food (which, in hindsight, is a negative)

the pay was great

annual cost of living raises and anniversary raises

decent health coverage and other fringe benes

ratios

most of my coworkers on my unit (quite a varied mix from worderful to tolerable, really only disliked working with one particular person) and in ER (all were wonderful) where I did my evals.

Would definitely still be there if not for the unreasonable cost of housing.

I will stay at my current job in spite of not so great pay, miserable commute (Houston traffic for 25 miles), no tuition reimbursement, although I hope to be in a RN-MSN program within a few months (thanks in part to this job). I stay because it's a Mon-Fri 9-5, I've been able to start to reverse the harm I did to myself by being a lazy pig in CA in many ways, pretty laid back work environment so far, coworkers are cool enough, my license is very safe, and while I've added to the "nursing shortage" by refusing to stay at the bedside because of all the common reasons, I'm doing my part to help the drug dependant/abusing folks out here and I derive quite a bit of satisfaction from that.

So IMHO, retention is better accomplished by getting to the heart of the matter...ratios, benes, open communication between staff an management, which must include management actually caring about (and acting on) what the staff has to say. Pay is certainly nice and definitely necessary, but as long as it's competitive with the rest of the area it's not a problem that needs to be the primary focus. Take care of your workers and they will most certainly take care of you (and moreso the patients)

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