Over 70% of Nurse Staff Turnover is Due to Bad Leadership

Brenda F. Johnson, MSN

In our country, and specifically in healthcare, we are leadership deprived. It is difficult to lure good leaders into management positions due to the increased stress that they will have to deal with. Adding to that, younger nurses don’t want it either. There are other fields of nursing that they can invest education and experience in that will yield them more money. Some nurse managers are promoted out of convenience or because they are great nurses. However, Good clinicians don’t always make effective managers because they may not have any leadership skills.

Over 70% of nurse staff turnover is because of bad managers (Roussal, 2016). When a nurse leaves a position, it can cost around $75,000 to replace that person (Roussal, 2016). This includes the recruitment of the new staff person, replacement, and possibly temporary staff until the position is filled. Included in that number is the overtime paid to the present staff and the orientation of the new person. When there is a high turnover, the core staff become burned out and unhappy leading to the potential of additional turnover.

Personally, I have had some fantastic nurse managers, and some not so fantastic. But my recent experience tops the not so fantastic scale by epic proportions. I kept waiting for the lies to catch up to this person, or the emotional bullying to escalate until someone finally reported the problem. For years, I had begged for help from the manager’s superior, but to no avail. Nothing happened. I felt trapped, frustrated, and angry. Was there no one who cared that the whole department was stressed and unhappy? A part of my frustration was that my co-workers would not stand up for themselves and report the manager. A culture of co-dependency and toxic circumstances had festered for so many years, that I guess they accepted it as status quo.

Recently, my manager did something that was so egregious that this person is now forced to step down from their position. What I have realized from this experience is that some of my co-workers who would not have reported this incident. The manager would have gotten by with it, and gone on to commit other intentional errors. Now that there is some exposure to the bad management, my co-workers are more willing to speak up. The people who were brave enough to speak up in the first place did so with much consideration and purpose. There are incidents that are reportable, that must be reported by those with knowledge of what happened. Of course, there are incidents that aren’t harmful but still need to be reported. This allows for a review of the system and root cause analysis that improves how we do things and prevent future incidents.

There are a few leadership qualities that lead to failure; lack of vision is one of them. Leaders must be able to articulate their vision so that the staff can relate and understand. This will help staff know that they are a vital part of fulfilling that vision. If a leader has no connection to the larger picture, the staff feel disconnected and unimportant. When a manager has no empathy, the staff don’t feel cared for. Part of having empathy is being able to listen and hear them when they have concerns. No motivation can kill a department’s ability to thrive. Having an environment that helps to create energy and purpose will allow the staff to enjoy their workplace. Also, when a leader has no eye on the future, the staff feel stifled and are unable to learn and grow.

Good leaders create trust between themselves and the staff. If the staff has trust, then they will feel comfortable bringing to you issues that they have. They will also know that the manager has their back in difficult situations. A nurturing environment will grow empowerment amongst the staff. A good leader accepts responsibility for things that are their responsibility. They don’t deflect blame onto the staff, or elsewhere but instead are mature enough to self evaluate and use situations to improve their leadership skills. Being an advocate and liaison between the staff and upper management, other departments, and ancillary is an important part of being a good manager. Being open and approachable will go a long way in human relationships. Having a good emotional IQ helps as well. Communication is extremely vital in maintaining any relationship, and especially important with management. Being able to effectively communicate and have crucial conversations will make all the difference in how staff respond to changes. Not every good leader can be excellent in all aspects, but they can continue to try and learn. As for those bad leaders. . . I have no idea!

Tell us about your good leader, or bad one. Give us the reasons they are either good or bad.

Over 70% of Nurse Staff Turnover is Due to Bad Leadership

About Brenda F. Johnson, MSN

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