recruitment and retention strategies-a magnet hospital prevention model

MEDSURG Nursing—April 2005 Supplement 21 Recruitment and Retention Strategies: A Magnet Hospital Prevention Model Valda Upenieks Valda Upenieks, PhD, RN, is a Faculty Member, Green River College, Auburn, W A. Note: This article originally appeared in Nursing Economi c$, 21(1), 7-13, 23, and is reprinted here with permission of the publisher . The national health care system is facing another significant nursing shortage, particularly in the acute inpatient setting. Magnet organizations have enabled professional nurses to be autonomous and empowered, and to do for patients what they know should be done in a manner consistent with professional standards. This philosophy of nursing excellence is crucial for attracting and retaining clinical nurses, as well as vital for enhancing job satisfaction and longevity — a key strate- gy in survivi ng the nursi ng shortage. A s it has several times since the early 1960s, the national health care system is facing another significant nursing shortage, particularly in the acute inpatient setting (Aiken, 1984; Roberts, Minnick, Ginzberg, & Curran, 1989; Sigma Theta Tau International, 1999). Exper ts are finding the current nursing shortage remarkably serious — as both a demand and supply shortage, widespread throughout the country, and likely to worsen (see T able 1). On the demand side, the number of inpatient, critical, labor-inten- sive patients has increased because of both the aging population and med- icine’s success in keeping ill patients alive longer, thus requiring increased nursing hours to care for these patients. On the supply side, some of the concerns include an aging nursing workforce and a diminishing pipeline of new students entering into the nursing profession due to a broadening of job opportunities within and outside of health care (Billingsley , 1999; Sigma Theta Tau International, 1999). Many health care professionals are wondering why a shortage has transpired when managed care cost initiatives, implemented throughout the country, are dramatically decreasing the length of patient stays (Billingsley , 1999; Seifer t, 2000). In fact, such a situation should be resulting in a nursing oversupply. However, “the key demand factor, which has not been fully appreciated in the cost-cutting equation, is that as the length of stay decreases, the acuity level of pa tients increases” (Seifert, 2000, p. 310). With increased acuity comes the need for more nursing patient care hours and skilled nurses (Seifert, 2000). An important element of the supply factor , too, is the unparalleled growth of nursing opportunities outside of the hospital environment (for example, day-surgery clinics, ambulatory care settings, physician offices, urgent-care centers), which has drained nurses whose patient care skills are in great demand in the acute inpatient setting (Billingsley , 1999; Seifer t, 2000). Unlike previous shortages, “this one is not about sheer numbers of nurses,” but about having enough nurses with the needed specialty skills and experience to care for unique patient population demands (for example, critical care nurses and emergency depart- ment nurses) (Johnson, 2000; Sigma Theta Tau International, 1999). Downsizing and re-engineering have also taken an immense toll on the health care industry (Seifert, 2000), and particularly on hospital nurses. In the initial adjustment to the managed care system, hospitals eliminated many nursing positions due to tight budgets and the reduced occupancies of

recruitment and retention strategies-a magnet hospital prevention model

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