Canadian cancer nurses' views on recruitment and retention

The purpose of this study was to explore oncology nurses' perceptions about recruitment and retention.

Competition among healthcare organizations to recruit and retain qualified nurses is a real-life challenge. Focusing attention on human resource planning in oncology is highlighted by both the worsening nursing shortage and cancer incidence.

A participatory action research approach was used and 12 focus groups with 91 cancer nurses were conducted across Canada to collect data about strategies that could improve recruitment and retention.

Four themes emerged reflecting oncology nurses' beliefs and values about organizational practices that attract and retain nurses and they are as follows: (1) recognizing oncology as a specialty, (2) tacit knowledge no longer enough, (3) gratification as a retaining factor, and (4) relationship dependent on environment.

Participants highlighted leadership, recognition and professional and continuing education opportunities as critical to job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Recruitment and retention were viewed as a continuum where organizational investment begins with a well-developed orientation and ongoing mentorship to ensure knowledge development. The challenge for nurse leaders is to use the evidence generated from this study and previous studies to develop professional practice environments that facilitate the cultural changes needed to build and sustain a quality nursing workforce.