Issues Affecting Nurse Retention and
Nursing Leadership in the United States Today
Registered nurses (RNs) make up the largest group of healthcare professionals in the United States today (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2015). While the nursing profession is listed among the top occupations exhibiting job growth, nursing shortages have escalated, causing significant problems for the industry (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 2015). Nurse turnover and nurse retention are concurrent causatives in this issue at hand. Turnover is defined as, “the number of persons hired within a period to replace those leaving or dropped from a workforce” (Merriam-Webster, 2017). Retention is defined as, “the act of …show more content…
As the nursing shortage continues to increase, leaders are faced with the stressful challenge of trying to ensure high quality patient care and organizational effectiveness with a decreased staff (Anonson et al., 2014). Though the nursing shortage in the U.S. is not a new problem, factors such as The Affordable Care Act, which allowed more people to have access to healthcare, an increased overall age in the demographic of the American population, and the average age of employed RNs increasing, a new critical shortage for nurses developed (American Nurses Association, 2017). Nursing shortages lead to staffing shortages, resulting in long work hours, stressful work conditions, fatigue, job dissatisfaction, and consequently, nurse burnout and turnover (American Nurses Association, 2017). Mazurenko, Gupte, and Shan reveal that many nurses feel oppressed and disadvantaged when they cannot provide the quality of care they know they are called to provide (2015). Staffing shortages have also been shown to contribute to high adverse patient outcomes as a result of a decrease in patient safety and patient access (Mazurenko, Gupte, & Shan, 2015). According to Mazurenko, Gupte, and Shan, all of these issues directly impact nurse rentetion as they are causing qualified, good nurses to leave nursing and choose other professions …show more content…
According to Renter and Allen, positive work environments have been evidenced to increase job satisfaction rates, increase successful nurse recruitment, and positively influence nurse retention (2014). Sanders, Krugman, and Schloffman agree stating that nurse leaders contribute great influence over the creation of healthy work environments which in return increase job satisfaction (2013). Twigg and McCullough (2014) also concur stating, “Creating positive practice environments enhances nurse retention and facilitates quality of patient care” (p. 85). While it is ultimately the job of the nurse leader to create the most positive atmosphere benefiting the great good, every person must decide for themselves whether or not they will allow their circumstances to determine their future as the perfect environment does not