Chapter 5: Best Practices to Improve Nursing Staff Retention

Chapter 5: Best Practices to Improve Nursing Staff Retention
Nursing staff low retention rate is one issue of great concern within the healthcare organization. The main reasons associated with a low retention rate of nurses are unavailable or poor leadership, lesser peer support, and lower level of satisfaction due to the absence of employee empowerment. The most appropriate practice hence is for the top leadership to gain some understanding and initiate some authentic skills of leadership that move a long way with the empowerment of individual staff members. Developing a style of leadership which is authentic in the organization assists in moving such organization towards a higher rate of employee’s retention (Burke, Flanagan, Ditomassi & Hickey, 2017). Literature affirms that authentic leadership within healthcare institutions is more of being pro engagements and taking an active role of members of staff within the organization, which led into higher retention rate and active involvement of the employees into the activities of the company. Evidence from the literature review has shown that improper style of leadership when accompanied with lack of employees’ empowerment usually results into low productivity and a higher rate of turnover of the employees (Laschinger, Borgogni, Consiglio & Read, 2015). Employees who are not empowered usually have the minimal commitment and will be ready to quit from the institution any time opportunity present itself.

Laschinger, Borgogni, Consiglio & Read (2015) has demonstrated that there is a strong relationship between authentic leadership training and staff retention (P. 81). Laschinger, Wong & Grau (2012) agrees with this statement by affirming further that authentic leadership usually plays essential functions in championing for the loyalty of employees within the place of work (P. 66). Employee’s loyalty usually boosts their morale, resulting in higher retention rate. Lea & Cruickshank (2017) on his side argues that higher rate of retention of individual nurses can only be achieved when there is a robust employer-employee relationship and such can just get triggered by the availability of authentic leadership within the institution (P. 176).

Moreover, employees’ empowerment can contribute very greatly to the nurses’ retention rate. Studied have shown that empowered nursing staffs will be more willing to remain working at the institution or in the unit where they have been deployed, unlike the staffs who feel not empowered. All these arguments confirm that proper leadership and employees’ engagement are essential in ensuring higher staff retention rate (Nelson, Boudrias, Brunet, Morin, De Civita, Savoie & Alderson, 2014, P. 90). The general aspect of authentic leadership training and empowerment should be implemented within all the institutions of healthcare to make sure that there is a higher level of retention among the employees. The overall responsibility of having a nursing staff who is highly motivated and willing to stay in the company falls squarely on the upper leadership of the organization (Nikstaitis & Simko, 2014, P. 293). The upper administration has to empower, motivate and develop all their nursing staff members to enhance their retention rate.

As had been mentioned, the proposed solution for a low retention rate of nursing staff at the Advanced Heart Failure Unit is for the unit’s top leadership to develop authentic leadership

characteristics, which will go a long way in empowering, motivation and improving the morale of nurses and hence, increasing the rate of their retention.

Chapter 6: Evidence Summary of The Literature
Read & Laschinger (2015) had examined the theoretical model that tested the effects that  authentic leadership and structural empowerment had on staff’s mental health and job  satisfaction for the new graduate nurses (P. 1611). The researcher, in this case, revealed that  authentic leadership, as well as employees’ empowerment, is very crucial in providing a  favorable environment for graduate nurses (AbuAlRub & Nasrallah, 2017). Authentic leaders  create a structural empowerment work environment that fosters positive retention outcomes  among the nurses. Frederick (2014) argues that authentic nurse leaders will always improve team morale and hence retain the nurses. Frederick (2014) points out that bullying on the side of  leaders is the leading cause of instability in staff retention.  

Mentoring of nurses will always allow the team to respond positively to any bullying  scenario that they might have encountered. A mentoring culture, in this case, will always start  with having an authentic leader who genuinely cares for and respects the employees. Evidence  suggests that adequate care of nurses is an essential