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5 Reasons Nurses Want to Leave Your Hospital

Rebecca Hendren, for HealthLeaders Media, August 9, 2011

Some hospitals have good managers who are stretched so thin they become bad ones. How can anyone focus on the professional development of their staff if they're overseeing several units with umpteen nurses across all shifts? Annual performance reviews shouldn't be the only time the manager and nurse engage in conversation. Nurse managers must help staff reflect on growth and plan for the future.

These five reasons affect every aspect of nursing workload and contribute to fatigue and burnout. Don't forget that nurses always know when their colleagues at the hospital across town are happier.

Rebecca Hendren is a senior managing editor at HCPro, Inc. in Danvers, MA. She edits www.StrategiesForNurseManagers.com and manages The Leaders' Lounge blog for nurse managers. Email her at rhendren@hcpro.com.
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24 comments on "5 Reasons Nurses Want to Leave Your Hospital"


Elaine Kinsey (11/18/2011 at 3:01 PM)
My comment is to those who do not make the grade. All RNs have had minimum scores for exams and those that do not pass are out of the program, period. A 73 score or even a 80% informs me that only 73%- 80% of the time you knew what to do for a patient. This is unacceptable in school and is unacceptable to me as a Director of an ICU. My advice, is to go through the program again and not give up so easily.

Deb Watson (9/5/2011 at 2:15 PM)
When will they ever learn enough is enough! I can remember when volunteers left the hospitals b/c nurses were loosing jobs back in the mid 70's. Then the medical assistants (who are trained both in clinical and administrative) got shifted b/c the nurses were hired at doctors' offices for less pay and higher education. Over the years, medical assistants haven't been recognized for doing all of what nurses do in the doctors' offices nor utilized in the hospitals as part of the on going education of our medical field. In fact, to higher my education and ultimately be of greater service, I attended a 2 yr. nursing school w/i the hospital. With 2 semesters to graduation and $22,000 in debt, I was CUT from the accredited RN Associate program. How could this happen? I was given 2 weeks notice to retake the final from the previous year that I had passed with the manditory 80% and above. Not only was this in addition to each semester's manditory practicals and nursing calculations but put in a noisy hallway to take it. Out of the 80%, I scored 73, was immediately CUT and lost my only income of 16 hours from a student nurse job. Although totally numb from having been put out of being at the hospital 7 days a week for school, clinicals and work, I called and wrote to the deans that only acknowledged missing the cut off by 7 points. I did, however, receive a congradulations for the bill paid in full!! It saddens and angers me to see the continued numbers of opening for nurses when there's such a lack of mentorship to begin with right under their noses.

Art Wallace (8/20/2011 at 7:45 PM)
Nursing morale and/or burnout is also influenced by inadequate career progression opportunities and a sense of belonging and making a difference. As a profession, we've emphasized education and certification as pathways to advancement; but, in reality, it's only the progressive institutions that recognize the value of retaining loyal, talented, and motivated staff that invest in this essential resource. It's incumbent on nursing leadership to articulate the importance of nurses at every level in making hospitals safer for patients and that positive outcomes are a symptom of nursing team and leaders who are appreciated.