Abstract
Objective: To better understand factors that may contribute to retention of experienced nurses, a study examined differences and relationships among work satisfaction, intent to stay in the nursing profession, and financial knowledge of retirement consequences related to income between clinical bedside nurses (CBNs) and advanced practice nurses (APNs) and described the importance of 7 workforce desires of nurses.
Background: Overall, nurses are not informed regarding the financial implications of transitioning from the workforce into retirement. In addition, little is known about the workforce desires and intent to stay among experienced nurses.
Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive, comparative design was used. Data were collected from a convenience sample (n = 176) of CBNs employed by a 371-bed, acute care, Magnet(R)-designated hospital, who worked in telemetry and medical-surgical care, and APNs employed by the hospital or employed by a credentialed physicians within the facility in a variety of care settings and roles.
Results: Findings from the Work Satisfaction and Intent to Stay scales suggest that relationships in the workplace are important. Data related to the 7 workforce desire questions show that nurses in this organization support the characteristics of caring in the work environment as identified by Watson. The financial knowledge of the consequences of retirement related to income was low among both groups but slightly higher for the APNs.
Conclusions: Implications of this study for nurse leaders include the importance of strengthening relationships among nursing colleagues and between the nurse and the supervisor particularly in the constructs of caring. Data support a need for increased education about finances and retirement for RNs in the workplace.