Examining Factors, Strategies, and Processes to Decrease Physical Therapy Turnover Rates in Acute Care Hospitals: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

A review of the literature was performed to understand trends, patterns, and strategies to improve retention of physical therapists in acute care hospitals. The purpose of this article is to discuss contributing factors and explore 2 specific groups of strategies—human factors and quality management/quality control—to reduce attrition and increase retention of acute care hospital physical therapists. This article also discusses processes such as changing organizational variables, continuously assessing the workforce, establishing an internal leadership bank, and employee/management surveys as strategies to enhance retention of acute care physical therapists. A variety of collective actions by both managers and employees can be implemented to reduce the challenges of acute care physical therapy turnover. No one action is more important than the others. Recommendations for future research include a qualitative study of employees who have worked in and subsequently left acute care hospitals to understand their lived experiences. Furthermore, a retrospective review of organizations' human resource files on employees who have left might uncover additional factors specific to the organization that are related to turnover. In addition, further studies addressing acute care physical therapists employed longer than 5 years might reveal more about their motivations for staying in such a challenging work environment.

Effects of an electronic health record‐based mobility assessment and automated referral for inpatient physical therapy on patient outcomes: A quasi‐experimental study

“…Our work contributes to the growing body of literature supporting rehabilitation utilization in reducing readmissions and mortality in the acute care setting and specifically supporting vulnerable individuals with more mobility needs 58,59 . This work is also of policy relevance because stroke is a diagnosis under consideration for the latest “Bundled Payment for Care Improvement (BPCI)‐Advanced” program 60 by the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services to help promote improved coordination of care.…”

“…Our work contributes to the growing body of literature supporting rehabilitation utilization in reducing readmissions and mortality in the acute care setting and specifically supporting vulnerable individuals with more mobility needs. 58,59 This work is also of policy rel-…”

Partial Substitution of Simulation-Based Learning Allows Equal Student Self-confidence in the Acute Care Setting

“…12 Moreover, increased mergers and acquisitions of large medical centers have resulted in fewer available sites. 12,15 Therefore, health care simulation has been explored as a potential solution to provide students with early exposure to common acute care scenarios to better prepare them for later clinical education experiences in this environment.…”

“…Over the past decade, clinical site placement in physical therapist (PT) education has become increasingly difficult in the acute care and intensive care unit (ICU) environments 1–13. The growing acuity of patients with complex diagnoses and comorbidities in these environments may be a hindrance to student placement 9–11,14–16.…”

“…ver the past decade, clinical site placement in physical therapist (PT) education has become increasingly difficult in the acute care and intensive care unit (ICU) environments. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] The growing acuity of patients with complex diagnoses and comorbidities in these environments may be a hindrance to student placement. [9][10][11][14][15][16] The skills required and the risk involved with treating medically complex patients may prove impractical for student placement.…”