Nursing is a profession that has proven to be vital in the medical field, especially in recent years. However, specific challenges arise in the aspects of the work environment and retention of nurses. The crisis occurring in the healthcare system is critical, and therefore needs strategies implemented in order to solve it. There are strategies regarding the encouragement of education, staff recognition, and ensuring work-life balance that may assist in improving the work environment and fostering retention for staff nurses.
As the nurse turnover is quite evident, especially for nursing students who tend to quit after the first year of working, it is possible to see the connection between the poor work retention in nursing and inappropriate staffing. This highly affects nurses’ well-being and intends poor staff recognition. In addition to implementing appropriate staffing, there is also a need to engage nurses in hospital decision-making more, which may also assist with staff recognition problems (Al Sabei et al., 2020). Involving nurses in internal governance and providing them with opportunities to serve on hospital committees implies career advancement, which may foster staff retention. The healthcare workers will benefit from working in the position for a long time.
The shortage of nurse educators results in a limited number of nurses graduating ready to fill the vacancies. Another aspect is the programs providing majorly academic knowledge rather than clinical training. The lack of preparation for advanced practice nurses affects the retention of first-year nurses, as they are faced with work immediately, so a mentoring program for academic nurses is advised. Moreover, job dissatisfaction and burnout are not less significant in the evaluation of work environment aspects. As the nursing job may at times be significantly stressful, there is a need to provide nurses with supervision and a flexible schedule to ensure comfortable working conditions (Nantsupawat et al., 2017). As a result, a convenient work environment will be implemented, and nurses may become more eager to stay in their profession.
References
Al Sabei, S. D., Labrague, L. J., Miner Ross, A., Karkada, S., Albashayreh, A., Al Masroori, F., & Al Hashmi, N. (2020). Nursing work environment, turnover intention, job burnout, and quality of care: the moderating role of job satisfaction. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 52(1), 95-104.
Nantsupawat, A., Kunaviktikul, W., Nantsupawat, R., , Thienthong, H., Wichaikhum, O. A.& Poghosyan, L. (2017). Effects of nurse work environment on job dissatisfaction. International nursing review, 64(1), 91-98.