Nursing Residency: Reversing the Cycle of New Graduate RN Turnover

The better approach doesn’t lie in spiraling financial incentives; it lies in bridging the gap between the educational and clinical settings, providing new graduate RNs with the support, training, and professional guidance to excel, and in empowering nurses to provide.

Abstract

nationwide nursing shortage that shows no signs of abating is creating a vicious cycle for hospitals scrambling to meet the demands of patient care. Today, many hospitals supplement their recruitment initiatives through increased financial incentives and workplace perks for nurses, but this is proving to be only a bandage solution to a retention problem that stems from deeper issues than salaries alone. More new graduate nurses are coming onto patient care units faster than ever before, yet many lack the requisite skills and experience to perform independently in complex patient care situations. Not surprisingly, new nurses are leaving their inaugural jobs at alarmingly high rates within the first 2 years of service.1 As the direct costs of filling a vacated nursing position reach at least 100% of a new graduate nurse’s annual salary, new graduate turnover represents a substantial cost to hospitals.2 The better approach doesn’t lie in spiraling financial incentives; it lies in bridging the gap between the educational and clinical settings, providing new graduate RNs with the support, training, and professional guidance to excel, and in empowering nurses to provide Suzie Reinsvold, RN, MSN Reversing the Cycle of New Graduate RN Turnover