Spare Change?

Angie SzumlinskiStudies, Training

How well do you understand your nurse turnover rate? Seriously, are you looking at numbers? Are you looking at “why”? There have been many studies on nurse turnover and most say the same thing, “if you treat the employee fairly and pay them a competitive salary, nurses won’t leave”. Some of this is true, everyone wants to be respected for what they do and compensated fairly. The bigger issue is “do you know what you don’t know”? Let’s be honest, everyone “thinks” they are treating their employees fairly but at the end of the day that might be a misconception.

In March 2016, Streamline Verify ranked healthcare as one of the top three professions with high turnover rates. It also found that 43% of newly licensed nurses who work in hospitals leave their jobs within 3 years, another 33.5% resign after 2 years, and 17.5% work for only 1 year. These are pretty bad odds if you think of the cost of turnover! According to the 2019 National Healthcare Retention & RN Staffing Report, published by Nursing Solutions, Inc., each percent change in nurse turnover will cost (or save) the average hospital an additional $328,400. The turnover rate for hospitals’ bedside nurses grew to 17.2% with an average turnover cost resulting in hospitals losing $4.4 million to $6.9 million each year. 

Okay, now that I have your attention, take a few minutes to review the study. Then take this information to your QAPI committee and discuss options on how to improve your staff turnover rate. What do you have to lose? Identifying flaws in our systems and facing them head-on can only benefit your organization AND your staff and residents! Stay well, stay safe, and stay tuned!