Early career nurses with fewer supportive peers for safe patient handling are likely to quit

Abstract

This prospective study observed turnover during 1 year at a community hospital in Oregon (n = 39). The study tested whether nurses who at baseline nominated fewer peers as sources of safe patient handling support were more likely to quit than nurses with more supportive peers. Six nurses with tenure under 2 years left their positions. Nurses who quit reported half as many co-workers as sources of support relative to nurses who remained employed, and each additional peer nomination reduced the risk of turnover by 15%. Further research should establish the contribution of peer safety support reducing turnover among recent hires.Keywords: Health and Safety, Job Satisfaction, Occupational Health, Recruitment and Retention, Teamwork, Workforce Issues IntroductionTurnover of nursing staff oscillates between 17% and 25% per year, higher than other industries (Aslam et al. 2015). Turnover negatively affects quality of care (Hayes et al. 2012) and finances, with an estimated cost of about 5-8% of a hospital's operating budget (Cox et al. 2014). Staff turnover decreases morale and productivity for employees who remain employed (Hayes et al. 2012). High turnover leads to higher patient-to-nurse ratios and staffing shortages (Cox et al. 2014). Factors influencing turnover include job dissatisfaction, heavy workload, unsupportive or non-transformational leadership and lack of opportunities for professional development (Hayes et al. 2012). Early-tenured nurses are most likely to leave with roughly 28% doing so in the first 2 years (Flinkman et al. 2013).The first years of employment are critical for engaging and participating in safety initiatives and to initiate supportive relations with peers. Greater social support has been associated with the utilization of safe patient handling equipment which prevents the onset of musculoskeletal disorders (Aslam et al. 2015). If social support contributes to reducing turnover among recently hired nurses, then it is paramount to characterize who supports whom in a hospital unit. Social support is usually measured broadly, asking participants to (Borgatti et al. 2009).The aim of this study was to test the association between social support and turnover. This study innovates by examining a particular type of social support related to safe patient handling advice, and by applying SNA to characterize better who supports whom. We hypothesized that nurses who declared having more peers as sources of safe patient handling support would be less likely to quit than nurses with fewer sources of support. The rationale is that nurses who could leverage more resources from their peers could engage in safety practices, which may increase the likelihood of integrating within the social and safety culture of their unit. Methods Study designProspective, observational study. ParticipantsConvenient sampling of Registered Nurses (RNs) and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) from the Medical/Surgery and Intensive Care Unit of a 25-bed critical access level community hospital in Oregon (N = 49). Trained res...