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Learning Objective 1: Understand how different practices in the work setting can address the reasons nurses' stay or leave practice settings.
Learning Objective 2: Plan how to increase their understanding of why their nurses want to stay, or leave, their current practice setting.
Methodology: An initial survey was followed up by telephone interviews with a randomly selected group of nurses (n=30). Our focus was to ask the reasons they had chosen to work in their current position, what made for the best and worst working conditions, and how scheduling and flexibility in the workplace impacted their choice of workplace.
Results: Interviews were coded by hand by two members of the research team. Each interview was read to gain an overview of what nurses were expressing about their choice of workplace. The text was then divided into paragraphs focusing on participant responses to the open ended questions. Labels were assigned to each paragraph and recurring meanings were grouped into factors that influenced nurses' choice of workplace. Working conditions such as full time and part time work and benefits were important to most nurses, however there were also other factors that influenced choice of workplace. These factors included: a) valuing (being respected, invited for input on clinical matters); b) opportunity (time off for studies and conferences); c) freedom of choice (self scheduling, choice of work unit); and d) collaboration (a sense of team work among and between disciplines).
Implications: As we approach an ever increasing global shortage of nurses it is important that those in leadership positions strive to ensure that their workplace considers factors that influence the choice of nurses regarding their place of work. These may include similar factors to those identified in this investigation but may also include additional factors. Providing nurses with an opportunity to share their wishes will enable leaders to support their current workforces and retain nurses.