Nursing Study Points to Poor Management and Stressful Work as the Leading Causes of Attrition

A shortage of 340,000 RNs is projected by 2020, notes Christine Kovner, professor in the College of Nursing and lead author of the study, “Newly Licensed RNs’ Characteristics, Work Attitudes, and Intentions to Work,” which was published in the September 2007 issue of the American Journal of Nursing (AJN).

The national study, the first to explore attitudes and experiences among newly licensed first-time RNs in their first 18 months following graduation, provides new insight into the work experiences of newly licensed RNs that may help reduce the turnover rate of hospital nurses. William Greene, professor in the Stern School of Business and a co-investigator on the study, provided the econometrics expertise to interpret the data.

“Of those who had already left their first job the most common reasons cited were poor management, followed by stressful work,” says Kovner, who notes that when asked whether they would choose the same job if they were free to go into any type of position, 41.5 percent answered they would want another job.

“It is vital that we understand the factors that promote the retention of newly licensed RNs as well as factors that lead to the high turnover rates among them,” Kovner adds. “We plan to continue surveying these RNs for two more years and develop predictive models of turnover, based on our findings.”

“This study helps to establish baseline data about a population that is particularly important both to the nursing profession and our health care system,” said Carol S. Brewer, associate professor in the School of Nursing at the University at Buffalo, who co-authored the study. “There are both costs and benefits when individuals leave organizations, as well as when they move within a health care system. However, as long as newly licensed RNs stay in nursing, the nursing community will not have lost its invested human capital.”

The study included a survey that was mailed to a random sample of new RNs in 35 states and the District of Columbia. A total of 3,266 nurses completed the survey with a response rate of 56%. Data were gathered in four areas: respondent characteristics, work-setting characteristics, respondents attitudes about work and job opportunities. Respondents who were not working were asked about their reasons for being unemployed, if applicable.

Support for this study was provided by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) in Princeton, NJ, the nation’s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans.