The Cost Of Turnover Is Significant

The costs to replace nurses that leave is noted to be around $42,000-$64,000; it is clear that reducing nurse turnover can save a lot of money (Buffington, A., Zwink, J., Fink, R., Devine, D., & Sanders, C., 2012) . The good news is orientation costs can be recovered if they new graduate remains within the healthcare organization (Woten, M. B., & Heering, H. C., 2016).

There are many challenges facing today’s nursing leaders and managers. From staffing and scheduling, to budget cuts and reduced reimbursements, today’s nursing leaders must evolve to meet the ever changing health care environment. Constance Schmidt, Chief Nursing Officer at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC), identified retaining experienced registered nurses (RN) as one of the biggest problems she faces as a nursing leader. She went on to state “Nationally, most hospitals have more than 60% of their nurses with at least 5 years of experience. At CRMC, it’s the reverse. We have more than 60% of our nurses with less than 5 years of experience” (personal communication, March 28, 2014). The two largest factors affecting those numbers are the nursing shortage and nursing retention. The first, the nursing shortage, was identified years ago and has been researched countless times. Some projections indicate the number representing the gap between available registered nurses, and the positions needing to be filled, could be over a million before the end of the current decade. The latter, retention of nurses, is a problem in every health care facility in the nation. Nursing turnover results in both a significant financial cost to hospitals, and a significant impact on the community through its effects on patient outcome.

There are many major challenges facing the nursing shortage environment today. One of those challenges includes the facility recruitment of registered nurses and then the facility retention of the registered nurses that they have recruited. Factors to consider would be as to why a registered nurse chose to accept a particular job and will they choose to stay at the facility after being given an employment opportunity. A facility’s reputation, union status, autonomy and salary are among some of the factors that influence recruitment. Factors that influence retention includes the inclusion in decision making, practice

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (USBLS) estimates the need for 439,300 registered nurses (RN) from 2014 to 2024, equating to a 16% increase in employment opportunities (USBLS, 2015). Approximately 30% of new RNs leave their first jobs with less than a year of hire and 525,000 nurses are expected to retire from 2012 to 2022- a demand totaled to around 1 million jobs by 2022. This increase is attributed to retiring baby boomers, turnovers, healthcare reform, and the increasing aging population (Kiel, 2012; USBLS, 2013). Control over the retirement of baby boomers is unrealistic, however, nursing turnover can be regulated.

The cost to train new nurses becomes so enormous for hospitals it would be much smarter to figure out why new nurses are leaving and provide tools to assist new nurses with their transition. Looking at reasons NGRN leave their new chosen profession seems simple enough find out what it is that decreases job satisfaction and fix it. One study looked at burnout in new nurses and possible causes, they looked at workplace environment, workplace incivility and empowerment.(Spence Laschinger et al., 2009) They found

The nursing shortage in healthcare has been a highlighted issue for many years. With the ever-growing health care system, hospitals and healthcare facilities often find themselves searching for ways to acquire new nurses and retain their very own. Throughout the years, the number one solution to this problem remains the same: decreasing nurse turnover, and increasing nurse retention. This paper discusses the causes of high nurse turnover rate, the negative effects on health care, and ways to improve the turnover rate.

The expense of losing an experienced nurse can be costly to the hospital. Not to mention the nursing knowledge and skills. Estimates of the actual dollar amount incurred by nurse turnover range from 10 to 20 thousand dollars per nurse to as much as well over the nurse’s yearly salary. According to Anderson (2004), Nurse Executives estimate that “…visible costs represent only 24 percent of total costs for medical/surgical nurses and only 18 percent for specialty nurses. A true total cost of $42,000 per medical/ surgical RN and $64,000 per specialty nurse is more close to reality.” Turnover costs, average approximately $47,403 per medical/surgical RN and $85,197 for specialty RNs. “A 400-nurse hospital with a 20 percent turnover rate is replacing 80 nurses per year. The direct costs might average $800,000 per year, but

“High rates of staff turnover in nursing homes is not a recent phenomenon. As far back as the mid-1970s studies have documented average turnover rates for registered nurses (RNs), licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) and certified nurse’s aides (CNAs) ranging between 55% and 75%” (Mor,V., Mukamel, D.B., & Spector,W. D. 2009, 1). Long term care facilities (LTC) have staffing issues related to the high turnover of licensed staff. The effect can have a heavy financial burden and also affect the care given to residents. Many ask the question why is it hard to attract and keep nurses at a long term facility. The International

The financial cost of losing a single nurse has been calculated as equal to double the annual salary of a single nurse. Various studies reveal that each hospital in America is losing almost $300, 000 per year because of nurse turn-over. Nurse turn-over can negatively impact the health care system in many ways such as poor quality of patient care, increased medication error, hospital acquired infection, prolonged patient stay at hospital, and increased staffing cost. Many factors contribute to nurse turn-over such as workload, absence of career opportunities, poor work recognition, and lack of communication with management about issues (Hunt, 2009).

Retaining a stable and sufficient supply of nurses is an important hospital and nationwide concern. Numerous factors affecting retention of registered nurses comprises of practice autonomy, managerial respect, workload, and inclusion in decision making, flexible schedules, education, and pay (“Recruitment”, 2013). Hospitals not capable of retaining qualified registered nurses may result in the loss of experienced and knowledgeable staff. Additionally this will lower hospital productivity during this transition. High turnover rates for registered nursing staff may also impact job fulfillment and nursing moral altogether. Retaining qualified registered nurses will enhance patient care quality and satisfaction.

Nurse retention for this company is of utmost importance for multiple reasons. According to Forest and Kleiner (2011) replacing an RN can cost as much

Rondeau et al. (2008) reported that lack of awareness pertaining to the significant changes of employee market factors in nursing turnover and vacancy. Effective and efficient nurses retention strategies are some of the ways to handle with turnover in healthcare organizations, not all reasons for turnover are employer

With the ongoing changes in the healthcare field, nursing workforce retention presents itself as one of the greatest challenges facing healthcare systems today. According to the American Nursing Association, nursing turnover is a multi-faceted issue which impacts the financial stability of the facility, the quality of patient care and has a direct affect on the other members of the nursing staff (ANA, 2014). The cost to replace a nurse in a healthcare facility ranges between $62,100 to $67,100 (ANA, 2014). The rising problem with nursing retention will intensify the nursing shortage, which has been projected to affect the entire nation, not just isolated areas of the country, gradually increasing in its scope from 2009 to 2030 (Rosseter,

Nurse turnover is defined as “the number of nurses changing jobs within an organization or leaving an organization within a given year” (Baumann 2010). Retaining nurses is one of the most important issues in health care as its effects range from challenges in human resource planning, to high costs in financial and organizational productivity (Beecroft et al, 2008), to workgroup processes and morale, to patient safety and quality of care (i.e. patient satisfaction, length of patient stay, patient falls, and medication errors) (Bae et al, 2010). Nursing Solutions Inc (NSI) reported the national average turnover rate for hospitals increased from 13.5% in 2012 to 14.7% last year. Nurses working in Med/Surg had more turnover

High turnover rates can be very expensive for any healthcare facility, especially when it comes to training new employees. Nurse turnover cost can consist of recruitment and advertising; training and orientation; and the cost to fill the vacancy with overtime. Even though nurse turnover rates has been on the rise, however, it can bring benefits like paying lower rates for new employees or eliminating poor performers.