Human resource management strategies for the retention of nurses in acute care settings in hospitals in Australia

Abstract

It is paramount that there is an adequate nursing workforce supply for now and in the future, to achieve equitable and quality health outcomes and consumer access to healthcare, regardless of geographic location. Nursing forms the largest body of employees in the health care system, spanning all segments of care. A shortage of nurses, particularly in the acute care settings in hospitals, jeopardizes the provision of quality health care to consumers. This article provides a literature review of Australian State and Federal Government reports into nurse retention. All reports discuss staff turnover rates; the average age of nurses; enrolment numbers in nursing courses; workloads; nursing workforce shortfalls and the effect on the work environment; leadership and management styles; organizational culture; change management; the mobility of nursing qualifications both locally and internationally and the critical need to value nurses. Then why has the situation of nurse retention not improved? Possible reasons for the continued nurse shortage and the promise of strategic HRM in addressing nurse retention are discussed.

Adverse Childhood Experiences Among MSW Students

“…Dykes (2011) agreed that some students may experience lasting effects from early adverse experiences that may interfere with healthy and effective practice. When students are not sufficiently prepared to manage intense emotions that may be triggered, they may develop coping strategies that diminish both job performance and longevity in the profession (Hogan, Moxham, & Dwyer, 2007). Given the complex and potentially competing requirements of gatekeeping and promoting social justice for social work educators, it is not surprising that professional training programs struggle with how to best serve students who carry such difficult experiences with them into their professional training.…”

Strategies for dealing with future shortages in the nursing workforce: a review

“…More than 90% of surveyed nurses have observed raucous behaviour. 12 Job dissatisfaction has been identified as a major contributing factor to the current problems of recruiting and retaining nurses. A recent Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals Survey showed that over the past two years, half of currently employed RNs considered leaving the patient-care field for reasons other than retirement.…”

Job preferences of students and new graduates in nursing

“…The job attributes are based on the literature describing job characteristics associated with nurse retention (Naude and McCabe, 2005;Hayes et al, 2006;Hogan et al, 2007). The attributes and levels are presented in Table 1; the experiment includes 12 attributes, 11 with two levels and one (salary) with four levels.…”