Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1495475
29 NURSING SPOTLIGHT As 43% of nurses consider departing the profession, can hospitals step up? By Ashleigh Hollowell N urses are continuing to leave their profession amid the ongoing staffing crisis. The question now is, can hospitals and health systems change enough to keep them in their profession? Nineteen percent of nurses intend to leave their current positions in the next six months, and of that percentage, at least 43 percent are considering departing nursing altogether, data from a January American Nurses Foundation survey found. Overall, the survey results revealed something many in the industry already know: Nurses nationwide are burnt out, and they've been feeling this way even before the pandemic. "Some hospitals recognized there was a problem before the pandemic and tried to fix it," an article in The New York Times states, noting that some hospitals, like Baltimore- based Johns Hopkins, had implemented mindfulness and stress-reduction programming to help healthcare workers prevent burnout before COVID-19 struck. But the pandemic changed things and left these professionals with "no time to think about mindfulness or meditation." On top of that, even with staffing rates suffering in the profession, those who still want to enter the nursing profession are facing barriers, including more than 60,000 nursing school applicants being turned away for various reasons throughout 2022, according to the American Nurses Association. "As experienced nurses leave the profession, there are fewer and fewer opportunities for students to get the hands-on, in-hospital training that is necessary for the profession, which in turn leads to nursing schools not producing enough graduates to fill the gap," the article states. Attracting professors to nursing schools has also become challenging because they tend to make significantly less money teaching than actively practicing. "Fix the burnout and staffing issues … and the infrastructure can once again support the necessary amount of new graduates needed to fill the nursing gap," Mensik Kennedy, PhD, RN, of the American Nurses Association, told The New York Times. "The most important way to start, she said, is to regularly measure nurses' stress levels, to take action when they begin to climb and to change the glorification of working without breaks." n Like Henry Ford Health and Northwestern, USC Verdugo Hills Hospitals in Glendale, Calif., is working to keep communication lines open with nurses who le. eresa Murphy, RN, MS, CENP, the hospital's chief nursing officer, is draing a formal letter inviting those who le to return. In terms of flexibility, the hospital has piloted a weekender program where nurses who commit to working Friday through Sunday earn more, with the added benefit being that "nurses who don't like working weekends oen can work less weekends and more weekdays because more of the weekend shis are covered," Ms. Murphy said. e hospital also offers a number of fixed-term positions for nurses who don't want a full-time permanent position, with the option for permanent employment once the term is up. Another component of hospitals' strategies to welcome nurses back has been expressing empathy and maintaining positive relationships with teammates who le, leaders told Becker's. "Unfortunately, too oen, when people leave an organization, folks want to view that as a negative [or that] this person is making a mistake," said Dr. Wallis of Henry Ford Health. "We tried very hard … to be understanding of where people were coming from and make sure that they knew the door was always open for them to come back to us." Ms. Murphy said it's imperative nurses feel no ill will about their initial departure from managers and unit supervisors. If they do, they will likely be more hesitant or embarrassed to come back. "We respect that individuals make decisions that are in the best interest of themselves and their families and that oen leaving the organization provides new perspectives when the nurse returns," she said. "ese can be great opportunities for growth. So, we celebrate nurses who come back to us." Hospitals' efforts to provide flexibility and creative nursing roles extend beyond the aim of simply re-attracting former employees. ese strategies point to the growing acknowledgement that hospitals need to wholeheartedly embrace creative nurse staffing solutions to recruit and retain these crucial caregivers amid the worsening nurse shortage. "We have to be more forward-thinking about creating opportunities for the nursing workforce to balance both their life and their professional life," Ms. Ramsey said. "And I think that will be the challenge of leaders as we go forward." n "We have to be more forward- thinking about creating opportunities for the nursing workforce to balance both their life and their professional life. I think that will be the challenge of leaders as we go forward." — Kristin Ramsey, MSN, RN