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Keeping nurses at work: a duration analysis
1Department of Economics, University of Bergen, Norway. tor.holmas@econ.uib.no
Health Economics
|August 31, 2002
Summary
Increasing the nursing workforce requires understanding why nurses leave the public health sector. This study reveals that both salary and working conditions significantly influence nurses
Area of Science:
- Health Economics
- Nursing Workforce Studies
- Labor Economics
Background:
- Global nursing shortages are a significant public health concern.
- Understanding factors influencing nurse retention is crucial for workforce planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the determinants of nurses exiting the public health sector.
- To quantify the impact of wages and working conditions on nurse attrition.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a unique dataset covering both supply and demand aspects of the nursing market.
- Applied a semi-parametric hazard rate model to estimate exit rates.
- Corrected for unobserved heterogeneity using parametric (Gamma) and non-parametric methods.
Main Results:
- Both nurses' wages and working conditions were found to significantly impact their decision to leave the sector.
- Failure to account for compensation for inconvenient hours led to a substantial underestimation of the wage effect.
Conclusions:
- Policy interventions addressing wages and improving working conditions are essential for retaining nurses.
- Accurate modeling of compensation components is vital for understanding wage impacts on nurse retention.