Nurse managers’ span of control is closely linked to retention rates among early-tenure nurses, according to a new report from the American Organization for Nursing Leadership and Laudio.
The “Early-Tenure Nurse Retention: Trends and Leader Strategies” report is based on insights from Laudio’s platform, which includes data from more than 5,000 nurse managers across more than 100 hospitals and AONL-led interviews with 10 nurse managers. AONL is an affiliate of the American Hospital Association.
Three key findings:
- The report found a clear link between the number of direct reports a nurse manager is responsible for and turnover rates among early-tenure nurses. On average, managers with 90 or more direct reports saw turnover rates as high as 40%. When nurse managers led teams of 30, turnover among new nurses averaged 27%.
- This gap in turnover translates to more than $300,000 in additional annual costs per department, according to the report.
“For teams with high spans of control and a high percentage of early-tenure RNs, a business case can be made to split the team into two units with separate managers,” the report said. “The cost of the additional nurse manager would be more than coerced by the estimated $300,000 in savings.”
- Similarly, a nurse manager’s ability to conduct check-ins with new hires is closely tied to first-year retention. Managers who conducted check-ins after a new hire’s first 30 or 45 days saw a 6-percentage point increase in first-year retention on average. Six- or nine-month check-ins improved first-year retention by 10 percentage points.
When new hire check-ins were delegated to an assistant nurse manager, retention fell 6 percentage points.
“New-hire check-ins should be a priority, yet managers face increasing administrative and operational workloads, limiting their capacity to conduct them. Executives must adjust workloads to ensure managers can consistently provide this critical support,” said the study’s executive summary.
View the full report here.
