Nursing Retention: When It's Broke, You Must Fix It!

Nurse retention. The system of nursing retention, is broken and it must be fixed to remain sustainable as American grows older and healthcare for all becomes a priority. Many facilities are thinking of ways to address the nursing shortage, but what about the nurses who are top-notch and will not be retiring, what are you doing to keep them? So often, we either are so focus on looking into the future or either looking back to see how we can improve things, both not bad business models, that we forget about what is in front of us. There are nurses in front of us who are working everyday and too making a difference in patient lives and patient outcomes, what would it mean to lose them? And don't get me wrong, finding ways to close the nursing shortage is important but it does not focus on retention in the least. Here is a bit of free advice, that I have about nursing retention:

• Have a working nurses at the table, depending on who you want to retain you need to know what makes them stay at a job and figure ways around providing those opportunities, when feasible.  The question, is you have so many people at the round table looking at nursing retention, but make sure you have a key player at the table maybe more to speak up for the "working nurse". Working nurses will provide you valuable information about what it would do to keep them and their colleagues on the job; we have these conversations everyday far from what may be thought.
• Provide incentives, the reality is everyone likes these and it doesn't have to cost alot either. On Nurses Day provide your nurses will a small token to know they are appreciated. At a staff meeting recognize a staff person who has gone the extra mile and is the "A list Employee" for the month or year.
• Listen, sound simple enough; well it is not that easy as many employers forget the basic skill of listening. Nurses are on blogs, we are having conversations on the floor, if you stop long enough to hear what we are saying you may find valuable ways to retention.
• Look at "model" agencies. Some places have nursing retention down to a science, these are the places you almost never see posting a nursing job unless someone does retire. Find out what they are doing and how their strategies may be of assistance to you.
• Look at work processes, I would say this should be a yearly priority and a plan in place to how to address needed changes with the less bit of disruption. As work process are constantly evolving, but that being said some agencies are not looking into ways to streamline the busy work so that nurses can focus on what we like "hands on patient care."
• Have competitive pay,  I know the dollar is what is a driving factor for many healthcare agencies and I can't say that it is always the priority for most nurses, but it is important that your nurses can also meet their basic needs as well and if they are being paid appropriately or you are trying to save a buck you could lose them to a more competitive company.

Nurses..........I need you input as those are a few ideas I have about nursing retention, tell me yours, how can they keep us?