Nurse Retention In Critical Care

Introduction: The goal of every nurse leader is to establish and sustain a healthy work environment for nursing staff. This must be a priority if nurses are to make their optimal contributions to caring for critical care patients and their families. The link between healthy work environments and patient safety, nurse retention and recruitment are well documented in the nursing literature. Nursing organizations like American Association of Critical Care (AACN) believe that all workplaces where nurses practice can be healthy if nurses and nurse leaders are determined to address not only the physical environment, but also the less tangible barriers to staff and patient safety; e.g. skilled and effective communication, collaboration among disciplines and effective decision making. Continuity of care, especially in the critical care environment is essential to overcoming the obstacles of missed communication opportunities, nurse dependence on a medical model for the plan of care, and multiple disciplines practicing in silos.

Statistically significant results were obtained in the following categories: freedom to choose the method of working, recognition for good work, being able to judge one’s performance while doing the job, the opportunity to use one’s abilities, the amount of variety in the job, and the feeling of doing something worthwhile. As pertains to the advantages of the Attending Nurse Model of patient care, the participants reported: more meaningful relationships with patients (P=0.05), more meaningful relationships with patients’ families (P=0.007), a greater opportunity to improve patient outcomes (P=0.008), improved professionalism (P=0.05), and decreased stress levels (P=0.03). Finally, when comparing the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) scores pre and post pilot for Communication with Nurses top (always) category increase from 80.3% to