Nurse Practitioner Retention Strategies
Many organizations spend considerable time and money recruiting Nurse Practitioners, while neglecting the equally critical aspect of retention. This oversight can lead to costly personnel loses that could be avoided if organizations address factors that promote job dissatisfaction. To help increase your Nurse Practitioner retention levels, consider implementing these beneficial changes in the workplace.
Provide Competitive Compensation- It is not surprising that many Nurse Practitioners consider employment changes based on offers of attractive compensation. To help keep your Nurse Practitioners on board and not out the door, consider reviewing what continuing incentives you offer your NP’s and whether it is on par with what the competition in your area is offering. Providing an open dialogue and periodic reviews of compensation with your NP’s can help minimize unwanted Practitioner loses.
Provide Professional Development Opportunities & Leadership Opportunities- Results from research examining job satisfaction amongst California NP’s show that a lack of participation in nursing research, writing/publishing, and belonging to a department/nursing committee, can considerably decrease job satisfaction levels3.
Offer Schedule Flexibility- Allowing your Practitioners some scheduling flexibility greatly increases job satisfaction levels and should be taken under consideration when evaluating retention strategies3.
References:
2 Pron AL. Job satisfaction and perceived autonomy for nurse practitioners working in nurse-managed health centers. J Am Assoc Nurse Pract. 2013;25(4):213-221. doi:10.1111/j.1745-7599.2012.00776.x
1 Athey, E.K.,et al. (2016). How important are autonomy and work setting to nurse practitioners’ job satisfaction? Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 28, 320–326.
3 Wild P, Parsons V, Dietz E. Nurse practitioner's characteristics and job satisfaction. J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2006;18(11):544-549. doi:10.1111/j.1745-7599.2006.00173.x
4 Kostrey, D. (2017). Mentoring: Positively Influencing Job Satisfaction and Retention of New Hire Nurse Practitioners. Plastic surgical nursing : official journal of the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgical Nurses, 37 1, E1.
