Nurse turnover is on the rise, with hospitals across the US losing approximately 2.47% of their RN workforce within the past year. In addition, the turnover rate for RNs went up by 8.4%.
RNs face many challenges at work, from low wages and staffing shortages to stress. This has caused many nurses to change direction in their careers entirely. If you’re facing issues with high nurse turnover at your facility, you must implement a solid nurse recruitment and retention strategy as soon as possible.
The key is learning what essential strategies to put into place first. Keep reading this guide to learn about the top recruitment and retention strategies you should be using.
Create a Strong Onboarding Program
Remember, a nurse’s experience begins from the moment you hire them. While you must ensure onboarding focuses on job responsibilities, it also needs to let new nurses know they’re joining a positive and supportive culture.
Positive work culture has a lot of benefits that include:
- Boosts productivity
- Reduces stress
- Improves employee health
- Creates a growth mindset
- Increases employee engagement
The good news is you can take simple steps to create a more positive work culture. First, you need to have open and transparent communication. Ask for feedback from your nurses and make them feel comfortable discussing issues.
You should also provide positive reinforcement frequently. Each day, take the time to thank nurses for their dedication and hard work. You can consider offering bonuses, pay raises, and lunches as a reward for a job well done.
Taking these steps will vastly improve nurse retention and recruitment at your facility.
Provide Competitive Pay and Benefits
It should come as no surprise that pay and benefits are key factors for retention and recruitment.
It’s essential not to minimize the stress, challenges, and risks of the nursing profession. All healthcare facilities need to stay competitive to recruit and retain nurses.
So, it’s time to evaluate your wages. At a minimum, you should be on the same level as other regional facilities. If you want to attract nurses from other areas of the United States, you may need to offer higher salaries.
Most facilities can only increase their wages so much. You’ll need to look at providing other benefits like:
- Sign-on bonuses
- Tuition assistance
- Relocation packages
- Incentives for career development
- Childcare discounts
- Better retirement plans
- Wellness programs
Finally, you should consider providing extra compensation for nurses who mentor and train other nurses.
Improve Nurse Staffing
A nursing shortage at your facility can cause nurse burnout and greatly impact patient care. You’ll experience high nurse turnover rates, and the remaining staff will feel stressed and overwhelmed.
A nurse staffing shortage leads to other long-term problems, like poor patient outcomes and decreased work performance. Ultimately, these shortages can cause nurses to leave the workforce altogether, much like during the pandemic.
If you have staffing problems at your facility, you need to address the problem immediately. The most efficient way to do this is to outsource nurse staffing.
Companies like Staff Genius offer various staffing solutions that include local placement. You can find RN supervisors and staff for short and long-term needs. Private duty nurses and travel nurses are also available.
Improve Nurse Recruitment and Retention in Your Facility
Learning as much as possible about nurse recruitment and retention strategies will help you hire and keep experienced nurses.
You can take your first step today by contacting Staff Genius. We offer nurse staffing solutions for hospitals, nursing homes, assisted living, and more. We can help you with short and long-term needs, private duty care, and direct recruitment.
All of our candidates have background checks and undergo a strict screening process.
Make sure to contact us today to discuss your staffing needs!
