Abstract
Background & Purpose: The lack of literature focused on retention of experienced nurses reflects the need for more research in this area to help develop retention strategies and decrease turnover. Literature notes nurses want a safe work place, collegial relationships, supportive leadership and organization, and professional development. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-week educational intervention aimed at professional development.
Methods: The quality improvement project was implemented at a community teaching medical center with outpatient services, located on the east coast post IRB approval. A pre/post educational interventional design method was implemented on two medical-surgical units. The professional development section of the Casey-Fink Retention survey, Turnover Intention Scale-6, and an organizational evaluation was utilized for the purpose of this project.
Results: The pre-survey determined that nurses were seeking more opportunities for professional development in the cover of educational opportunities. The data from this study can be applied to future educational interventions where nurses can attend on site opportunities in a more flexible manner.
Conclusions: Professional development was one of the items that was tested via this quality improvement project extracted from the review of the literature. Experienced nurses are looking for opportunities to refresh their bedside skills and to grow professionally. Continued research in what experienced nurses need is warranted to better understand their expectations from the professions as they vary from that of a novice nurse. Their retention is key and understanding interventions that could be implemented to retain them should be front and center.
Implications: The experienced nurse give importance to professional development. Findings from this study support the idea that this factor place a key role in retention of experienced nurses. This study also suggest that more research is needed to show how effective strategies can be implemented to provide our experienced nurses with educational opportunities in a more flexible manner.
Notes
Additional references included in attached slide deck. References:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2014). Stakeholder Guide 2014. Retrieved from URL: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov.AHRQ Publication No. 14-EHC010-EF. Replaces Publication No. 11-EHC069-EF.
Al-Dossary, R., Kitsantas, P., & Maddox, P.J. (2014). The impact of residency programs on new nurse graduates’ clinical decision-making and leadership skills: A systematic review. Nurse Education Today, 34(2014), 1024-1028.
Algeri, N. (2021, August 4th). RN Turnover for July 2021 at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Reported by Human Resources: Data Analyst.
Bell, M., & Sheridan, A. (2020). How organizational commitment influences nurses’ intention to stay in nursing throughout their career. International Journal of Nursing Studies Advances, 2, 1-12.
Buerhaus, P.I. (2021). Current nursing shortages could have long-lasting consequences: Time to change our present course. Nursing Economics, 39(5), 247-250.
Daykin, A., Clement, C., Gamble, C., Kearney, A., Blazeby, J, Clarke, M., Lane, J.A., & Shaw, A. (2018). Recruitment, recruitment, recruitment- the need for more focus on retention: A qualitative study of five trials. Trials, 19, 1-11.
Ferguson, S. L. (2020). The lamp still burns: Nurses on the forefront of COVID-19, health disparities, and gender inequities. Nursing Economic$, 38(5), 252-243.
Galanis, P., Vraka, I., Fragkou, D., Bilali, A., & Kaitelidou, D. (2020). Nurses’ burnout and associated risk factors during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Advance Nursing, 77(8), 3286-3301.
Loft, M.I., & Jensen, C.S. (2020). What makes experienced nurses stay in their position? A qualitative interview study. Journal of Nursing Management, 28, 1305-1316.
Marc, M., Bartosiewicz, A., Burzyriska, J., Chmiel, Z., & Januszewicz, P. (2019). A nursing shortage- A prospect of global and local policies. International Nursing Review, 66(1), 9-16.
Sigma Membership
Nu Beta at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quality Improvement
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Personnel Retention, Experienced Nurses, Expert Nurses, Retention Implementation Strategies
Recommended Citation
Matta, Hemilla Raju, "Experienced Nurses: Improving Retention by Implementation Strategies Found in Research and Those Applied in Practice" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 77.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/77
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-02-23
Experienced Nurses: Improving Retention by Implementation Strategies Found in Research and Those Applied in Practice
Washington, DC, USA
Background & Purpose: The lack of literature focused on retention of experienced nurses reflects the need for more research in this area to help develop retention strategies and decrease turnover. Literature notes nurses want a safe work place, collegial relationships, supportive leadership and organization, and professional development. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-week educational intervention aimed at professional development.
Methods: The quality improvement project was implemented at a community teaching medical center with outpatient services, located on the east coast post IRB approval. A pre/post educational interventional design method was implemented on two medical-surgical units. The professional development section of the Casey-Fink Retention survey, Turnover Intention Scale-6, and an organizational evaluation was utilized for the purpose of this project.
Results: The pre-survey determined that nurses were seeking more opportunities for professional development in the cover of educational opportunities. The data from this study can be applied to future educational interventions where nurses can attend on site opportunities in a more flexible manner.
Conclusions: Professional development was one of the items that was tested via this quality improvement project extracted from the review of the literature. Experienced nurses are looking for opportunities to refresh their bedside skills and to grow professionally. Continued research in what experienced nurses need is warranted to better understand their expectations from the professions as they vary from that of a novice nurse. Their retention is key and understanding interventions that could be implemented to retain them should be front and center.
Implications: The experienced nurse give importance to professional development. Findings from this study support the idea that this factor place a key role in retention of experienced nurses. This study also suggest that more research is needed to show how effective strategies can be implemented to provide our experienced nurses with educational opportunities in a more flexible manner.
Description
Literature shows nurses desire a safe workplace, collegial relationships, supportive leadership/organization, and professional development. With the lack of literature focused on retention of experienced nurses, the purpose of this quality improvement project was to evaluate the effectiveness of educational intervention aimed at professional development for experienced nurses.