Nurses contribute so much to hospital and health systems from improving surgery patient outcomes to creating research that informs life-saving, evidence based practices. As such, health administrators recognize the centrality of nurses to the success of health systems. Innovative recruiting, retention, and professional development opportunities are pillars in the strategy to secure excellent nursing departments. To accomplish these strategic objectives, leaders seek out information about nurses’ needs and upcoming trends in employment.
According to the 2015 Survey of Registered Nurses: Viewpoints on Retirement, Education and Emerging Roles:
- A retirement surge could accelerate shortage quality nurses, because older nurses comprise a large portion of the total workforce.
- This loss of experience and knowledge could hurt organization and impact patient care.
- An outflow of talent could deprive younger nurses of mentors.
Hospitals and health systems are using a myriad of recruitment and retention techniques as they brace for this nursing shortage — from bonuses and tuition reimbursement to career development opportunities and partnerships with educational institutions. . . Scripps Health develops existing staff through education and transition programs, says Jack Blake, senior director of talent acquisition. In these programs, new nursing graduates can work in a medical-surgical environment for about a year, get acute care experience and then be offered educational transition programs so they can work in operating rooms or intensive care units.
To read more about how several health systems are handling the pending nursing shortage, read the source article at Becker’s Hospital Review.
