Retention priorities for the intergenerational nurse workforce

Retention of senior, Gen-X, and Millennial nurses is influenced by manager interactions and efforts to create a satisfying work experience.

The purpose of this project was a generational assessment of job satisfaction, work environment, and desired characteristics of managers in an effort to improve nurse retention.

Data from staff nurses at 22 southern hospitals collected by online survey included measures of job satisfaction and perceptions of safety, the Nurse Manager Desired Traits survey, and the Nursing Work Index-Revised.

The satisfaction with work environment scores for the whole group (n = 1,773) were high. Subscale scores showed highest satisfaction with nurse/physician relationships; lowest was nurse control of practice. A specific satisfaction question showed the younger nurses were less satisfied than those over age 40. Nurse safety concerns were expressed by 40% of the sample. One third of Millennial nurses plan to leave their job within the next 2 years. Over two thirds plan to be gone within the next 5 years. Especially alarming is the fact that 61% of the nurse group stated they plan to leave their current jobs within 10 years.

(a) Create model managers; (b) empower staff nurse councils; (c) stabilize staffing; (d) revamp incentives; and (e) focus on safety.