The Pennsylvania Action Coalition (PA-AC), a program of Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) subsidiary the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC), released “Strategies to Increase Nursing Workforce Retention.” The free, downloadable toolkit identifies the significant challenges the nursing workforce faces and offers direct strategies and best practices to help healthcare institutions reduce turnover.
Pennsylvania and states across the country are facing a severe shortage of nursing staff, which leads to increased nurse burnout and reduces patient safety. In Pennsylvania alone, the Health Resources and Services Administration's Health Workforce Simulation Model estimates there will be a nearly 28% shortage of licensed practical nurses by 2030. To help mitigate this crisis, the PA Action convened the Nursing Stress, Resiliency, and Retention Task Force, with leaders from across care settings and roles to help identify solutions.
The Task Force identified six key reasons why nurses are leaving their jobs: insufficient staffing levels, family/life demands, physical toll, emotional toll, compensation, and the work environment. In direct response to these challenges, the toolkit offers nurse employers more than 30 recommended best practices and strategies to improve nurse quality of life and increase retention.
"Nurses are the backbone of healthcare system and studies routinely find they are the most trusted healthcare professionals. We need to prioritize patient safety by addressing the alarming rates at which nurses are leaving their jobs and the profession. The toolkit offers healthcare leaders and HR departments with a free, credible resource to help improve workplace environments for the nursing staff.”
Sarah Hexem Hubbard, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Action Coalition & National Nurse-Led Care Consortium
The PA-AC and NNCC will host a free webinar to discuss some of the strategies identified in the toolkit and engage the audience in a conversation around bolstering the nursing workforce. The webinar will be repeated on two days, September 21 and 22. Learn more and register for the webinar here.
For more information and to view the toolkit, please visit https://www.paactioncoalition.org/news/item/700-strategies-to-increase-nursing-workforce-retention.html.
About the PA Action Coalition
The Pennsylvania Action Coalition is a program of the National Nurse-Led Care Consortium, a subsidiary of Public Health Management Corporation and was established in 2011 to promote a healthy Pennsylvania through improvements in the quality, accessibility, and safety of nursing. As part of the national Campaign for Action, established by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, AARP, and the AARP Foundation, the PA-AC works to implement the recommendations of the 2010 Institute of Medicine (now National Academy of Medicine) Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health and The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity report. The PA-AC fosters cross-sector collaborations to build a culture of health through nursing leadership. Its partners include leaders from health care institutions, academia, foundations, and nursing organizations including specialty and minority nursing organizations. For more information, visit paactioncoalition.org.
About NNCC
The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC), a subsidiary of Public Health Management Corporation, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit member-supported organization working to strengthen community health through quality, compassionate, and collaborative nurse-led care. The organization’s mission is to advance nurse-led healthcare through policy, consultation, and programs to reduce health disparities and meet people’s primary care and wellness needs. For more information, visit nurseledcare.org.
About PHMC
Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) is a nonprofit public health institute that creates and sustains healthier communities. PHMC uses best practices and evidence-based guidelines to improve community health through direct service, partnership, innovation, policy, research, technical assistance, and a prepared workforce. PHMC has served the region since 1972. For more information on PHMC, visit phmc.org.