While all may seem well in the healthcare front for now, there is an underlying problem which has to be addressed today to avoid problems sometime in the near future. Studies have shown that if the rate of retention of nurses in the country continues, the industry will be lacking about 400,000 nurses 20 years from now.



As part of the general public, each of us should be concerned about this statistic. Some of the negative effects that this shortage of registered nurses includes higher medical bills as companies would be forced to spend a lot of money in recruiting registered nurses. Another effect this shortage could have is lowered quality of healthcare. With more and more registered nurses not continuing in their line of work, healthcare companies would be forced to hire more inexperienced nurses with fewer older nurses to guide them.

To fix the problem, the cause should be pinpointed. Fortunately, several studies have already been conducted and the reasons for low retention rate for nurses have been found out. In 2003, a study conducted by Larrabee JH, Janney MA, Ostrow CL, et al. the prime reason for nurse's leaving the profession is dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction of course has different reasons too and different studies have been done to delve into this deeper.

Apart from being not satisfied with the profession, another reason for the low nurse retention rate is burnout. Numerous registered nurses have left the practice because they no longer have the passion to continue what they have trained to do all these years. Of course, being burnout has its reasons too and the industry should make it a goal to find these reasons and find a way to curb it.

One way for the healthcare industry to keep the nurse retention rate high is to find ways to make nurses feel that they are being respected for what they do. This is because this sense of respect is one of the factors being taken into account when it comes to gauging the satisfaction of nurses with their jobs.

A study suggested that nurse leaders create strategies to help create a better perception of respect for newly hired registered nurses. These strategies include letting nurses know that what they are doing are appreciated. By letting them know how important they are to the company and to the industry as a whole, it would help keep dissatisfaction at bay.

Retaining registered nurses is very important for the healthcare industry as it will determine how the industry will fare in the future. Newly registered nurses should be trained well with the help of experienced nurses. If the healthcare industry cannot retain nurses, the future would be bleak as there would be few nurses which can be counted upon to train the next wave of registered nurses year after year. After all, nursing is not just about wearing lab coats and scrub tops, but it is a life-long commitment. It is the duty therefore of the industry to keep nurses satisfied with their profession.