Right before the rise of COVID-19 in the United States, my hospital, Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tennessee, received our first Magnet® designation. With this amazing honor, the facility sponsored nearly 20 nurses (including me!) to
attend the ANCC National Magnet Conference® and the ANCC Pathway to Excellence Conference® in Atlanta, Georgia, in November 2021.
The conference allowed us all to reset and to be inspired by the invigorating things nurses are creating to improve nursing practice. With hundreds of sessions to choose from, we split up to attend as many sessions as we could and shared the knowledge
we gained. A common theme among many of the sessions was the importance of meaningful recognition and improved job satisfaction as factors to retain nursing staff. With the national nursing turnover rate being anywhere from 8.8% to 37%, and one-third of the nursing workforce retiring in the next 10-15 years, nursing retention is a major problem. Solutions need to be made sooner rather than later.
Dr. Millie Sattler from Emory Hospital presented a session called “RN Retentionist That Aims to Solve the Issues of Nursing Retention.” An RN Retentionist, described by Millie, focuses on nursing recruitment and retention with a strong emphasis
on meaningful recognition, job satisfaction, and professional advancement. As a small, rural, community hospital in Tennessee, Maury Regional Medical Center knew that we would greatly benefit from a position like this. After the conference, the Magnet®
team conducted meetings to discuss what an RN Retentionist role would look like at our hospital. We discussed topics such as why nurses stay at Maury Regional Medical Center, what makes them leave, the benefits of working at a community hospital,
and solutions to issues that a community hospital faces. Nursing leadership took this information and created the following job description for Maury Regional Medical Center’s Nurse Retentionist role:
- Plan and execute recruitment activities for licensed and unlicensed nursing roles
- Conduct individual meetings to provide transition support and early interventions
- Provide resiliency training
- Develop/chair nursing retention/recruitment committee
- Collaborate with nurse managers to discuss high-risk individuals and provide meaningful recognition
- Develop nurse extern program
- Expand nursing career counseling and professional development opportunities
- Develop nursing alumni program
- Report retention metrics
- Collaborate with human resources and marketing departments for nurse marketing materials
As soon as this position was posted, I applied and began conducting my own research. I connected with Dr. Millie Sattler on LinkedIn, and she sent me her job description to compare with the one Maury Regional Medical Center created. I also connected with
Dr. Sarah Gray, Sigma’s Chief Nursing Officer, on LinkedIn after her presentation on professional branding. I knew that a topic like that could be beneficial for a professional development plan within the role of an RN Retentionist. She connected
me with Sigma, and I was inducted in December 2021! I read Take Charge of Your Nursing Career, Second Edition by Dr.
Lois Marshall and Improving Nurse Retention and Healthcare Outcomes by Judy Thomas and Mellisa Renter. I knew
it was important to inform myself of the realities of retention issues and then come up with realistic solutions to these issues.
A week after I applied, I was invited to my first interview out of a two-step interview process. I first spoke with the RN Residency Director and Director of Nursing Education. She mainly discussed the role of the RN Retentionist and the description of
job requirements. My next interview was with several members of nursing leadership and that is where I was able to present my ideas about the issues we were experiencing regarding nurse retention. I also record voiceovers on the side and have professional
recording equipment, so one of my major ideas was to start a Maury Regional podcast. A majority of the staff travel at least a 30 minutes to work, and this would provide them with the opportunity to listen to various topics on their drive and feel
more connected to the organization.
A month after I initially applied, I was offered the job! As of February 2021, I am still in transition from being the weekend night med-surg charge nurse and waiting to fully step into my new role as a Nurse Retentionist. In the coming months, I will
be able to see which ideas are successful, which ideas need work, and any challenges that come up as I and the facility are stepping into new waters. I am excited to share my findings ... stay tuned!
Shania Dubbert, BSN, RN, CMSRN, is an RN Retentionist at Maury Regional Medical Center in Columbia, Tennessee, USA, and a member of Sigma’s Phi Gamma Chapter.