Organizational Leadership Presentation
Flagstaff Medical Center provides comprehensive health care in a unique patient-centered environment that includes a massage therapy program, a Music at the Bedside program, and a Caring Canine program. Although the facility has a lower-than-average turnover rate, recruiting and retention need to be improved. It is becoming more difficult to recruit staff, because there are fewer workers available and the workforce is aging. The responsibility for retention is tasked out to a number of people that all have multiple duties, leaving a gap in retention coverage. Therefore, Flagstaff is implementing recruitment incentives such as relocation fees and sign-on bonuses; substantial merit increases, recognition opportunities, and the availability of continuing education classes improve retention.
In addition to these strategies, Flagstaff is considering the development of a web site specific to nurse recruitment that would appeal to prospective candidates with information on current job availability, benefits, and education updates, as well as photos and testimonials from current employees. Staff membersÆ testimonials on what makes the Center a great place to work would emphasize the staffÆs unrelenting commitment to patient care.
In addition to these efforts, Flagstaff needs to look at compensation and staffing ratios; these factors, along with time with the patient, input into decisions, and flexible scheduling options are among the most coveted benefits sought by nurses (ôSolving the Nursing Shortageö). Whereas recruitment is ôa sales job,ö retention is predicated upon effective leadership and the cultivation of a work atmosphere in which nurses can learn and grown (Claussen).
Solving the Nursing Shortage: Best Practices for Recruitment and Retention of Nurses. Retrieved on February 22, 2006 from: http://www.afscme.org/una/sns08.htm
Claussen, L. NurseQuest web site. Retriev...