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Capstone Project Topic Selection and Approval

Student’s Name

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Capstone Project Topic Selection and Approval

Problem Statement

Nursing turnover is a problem facing the health services sector that needs to be dressed

carefully. However, Nursing Turnover associated with the inadequacy of nursing staff in clinical

facilities has been an important topic of concern of late. On average lower nurse-to-patient ratio

has resulted in more injuries to the patient, job dissatisfaction, burnout among nurses leading to

increased chances of medical errors (Halter et al., 2017).

The setting of the problem

Nurses and patients face significant health challenges attributed to nursing turnover. For

the elderly generation, the challenges of injuries and poor medical attention are even worse. They

are caused by the competition for services offered by a small number of overworked and stressed

nurses. Of late, through hospitals, the Government has helped deal with nursing turn over trying

to mitigate the adverse effects of this problem by reducing or eliminating mandatory overtime.

Despite several attempts by the hospitals to eliminate job dissatisfaction and burnout to nurses,

management is also required to employ strategies that would help reduce conflicts within clinical

facilities.

Description

According to NSI Nursing Solutions, in 2019 hospital nursing turnover rate was 15.9%, a

decrease of about 1.3% from 2018. It showed that paediatrics, burn care, and women's health

care recorded the lowest turnover rate while behavioural health and emergency services nurses

reflected the highest turnover rate. High Nursing turnover is caused, high levels of stress among

new nurses, longer shifts and the problem of nurses’ shortages leading to nurses performing
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duties beyond their skills levels and capabilities (Lee & Kim, 2020). Mastering these causes of

nursing turnover, hospitals, under the help of the Government, can come up with ways of

improving nurse retention (Mills et al., 2017). This is because retention will save the cost of

recruiting new nurses whenever some workers leave their jobs. Improving working conditions

and reducing working hours would see fewer chances of burnout among the nurses.

Effects of the problem

Organizations, nurses and patients all feel the effects of Nursing Turnover. Nurses

burnouts contribute to nurses leaving their jobs due to disappointments, lack of motivation, low

self-esteem and poor communication with others. Despite the disruption of health care services

associated with clinicians leaving their positions, burnouts also cause high financial costs to the

organizations (Dewanto & Wardhani, 2018). A study by the NSI Nursing Solutions shows that a

hospital can lose an average of $3.6 million to $ 6.1 million per year since the average cost of

turnover for a bedside can range between $33,300 and $56,000. Increased suffering on the

patients is also an effect of nursing turnover as very few nurses attend an overwhelming number

of patients, Leading to minimal chances of survival.

The significance of the topic

This topic will be very significant to the nursing sector. Highlighting the causes and the

possible ways of mitigating the effects of nurses' burnout will put the Organization at a place

where they can deal with the problem quite well. This will improve nurse’s retention, thus

reducing financial costs and reducing the chances of patient’s suffering.

Proposed solutions to the problem.

The proposed solutions of nursing turnover include reducing overtime and eradicating

mandatory overtime on nurses. Secondly, developing a system of policies that help nurses air
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their grievances whenever overwhelmed by work. Ensuring adequate nurse staffing ratios and

encouraging a working culture that would promote a healthy relationship between physicians and

nurses will solve this problem (Brook et al., 2019). Solving this problem will promote the safety

of nursing practices at any health care facility.

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References

Halter, M., Pelone, F., Boiko, O., Beighton, C., Harris, R., Gale, J., ... & Drennan, V. (2017).

Interventions to reduce adult nursing turnover: a systematic review of systematic

reviews. The open nursing journal, 11, 108.

Lee, E. K., & Kim, J. S. (2020). Nursing stress factors affecting turnover intention among

hospital nurses—international journal of nursing practice, 26(6), e12819.

Brook, J., Aitken, L., Webb, R., MacLaren, J., & Salmon, D. (2019). Characteristics of

successful interventions to reduce turnover and increase retention of early-career nurses:

A systematic review. International journal of nursing studies, 91, 47-59.

Dewanto, A., & Wardhani, V. (2018). Nurse turnover and perceived causes and consequences: a

preliminary study at private hospitals in Indonesia. BMC nursing, 17(2), 1-7.

Riyasat, S., Waqas, A., Azhar, M., Gillani, S. A. R., & Kousar, R. (2017). Causes of Nursing

Faculty Turnover. Saudi Journal of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 3(5), 433-440.

Mills, J., Woods, C., Harrison, H., Chamberlain-Salaun, J., & Spencer, B. (2017). Retention of

early-career registered nurses: the influence of self-concept, practice environment and

resilience in the first five years post-graduation. Journal of Research in Nursing, 22(5),

372-385.

Jarrar, M. T., Rahman, H. A., Minai, M. S., AbuMadini, M. S., & Larbi, M. (2018). The function

of patient-centred care in mitigating the effect of nursing shortage on the outcomes of

care. The International Journal of health planning and management, 33(2), e464-e473.

Lockhart, L. (2020). Strategies to reduce nursing turnover. Nursing made Incredibly Easy, 18(2),

56.