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Why are nurses leaving? Findings from an initial qualitative study on nursing
attrition

Article in Medsurg nursing: official journal of the Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses · November 2010
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Carol Isaac MacKusick
Ptlene Minick

Why Are Nurses Leaving? Findings


From an Initial Qualitative Study on
Nursing Attrition
The nursing shortage
remains problematic, yet
I n the United States, nursing workforce projections indicate the registered
nurse (RN) shortage may exceed 500,000 RNs by 2025 (American
Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2010; Cipriano, 2006; U.S.
research with nurses no Department of Health and Human Services, 2002). In 2008, the national RN
longer in clinical practice is vacancy rate in the United States was greater than 8% (AACN, 2010).
scarce. The purpose of this Evidence suggests experiences as a newly licensed RN directly impact indi-
study was to understand the vidual perceptions related to the profession (Cowin & Hengstberger-Sims,
2006). An estimated 30%-50% of all new RNs elect either to change positions
factors influencing the deci-
or leave nursing completely within the first 3 years of clinical practice
sion of registered nurses (AACN, 2003; Aiken, Clarke, Sloane, Sochalski, & Silber, 2002; Cipriano, 2006;
(RNs) to leave clinical nurs- Cowin & Hengstberger-Sims, 2006). While an abundance of data exist regard-
ing. A phenomenological ing the RN who stays at the bedside, few studies have explored the percep-
research design was chosen tions of the RN who decides to leave clinical nursing. Understanding factors
to reveal the complex phe- associated with RNs’ practice decisions is the first step necessary in devel-
oping effective nursing-retention strategies.
nomena influencing the RNs’
decisions to leave clinical Purpose
nursing practice. Interviews The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing the
were conducted with RNs decision of RNs to leave clinical nursing practice. Nurses who had elected
to leave clinical nursing were interviewed at the setting of their choice.
who were no longer practic- Previous clinical nursing experience included a variety of clinical practice
ing clinically. settings. For this study, the term clinical nursing is defined as providing
direct patient care in the hospital setting.

Background
Limited data exist about individuals no longer employed in nursing; no
literature was found about the perceptions or decision-making processes of
RNs no longer in clinical practice. A review of the literature was conducted
searching nursing, medical, labor, and psychological/sociological databas-
es. Years of search ended with 2007, the year of the interviews. A broad
search began with GoogleScholar® and was narrowed to include CINAHL,
MEDline, PsycINFO, and LexisNexis. Several issues concerning practice
Carol Isaac MacKusick, PhD(c), MSN,
decisions are associated with the current nursing shortage, including job
RN, CNN, is an Assistant Professor of
Nursing, Clayton State University, dissatisfaction (Aiken et al., 2002; Buerhaus, Donelan, Ulrich, Norman, &
Morrow, GA. Dittus, 2005), an aging workforce coupled with increased demands
(Auerbach, Buerhaus, & Staiger, 2007), and problematic relationships
Ptlene Minick, PhD, RN, is Doctoral among members of the health care team (Aiken et al., 2002). While these fac-
Faculty and Associate Professor of tors may lead to increased nursing attrition, they have not been explored
Nursing, Georgia State University, from the perspective of the former RN. A thorough examination of RNs’ per-
Atlanta, GA. ceptions regarding the decision to leave is necessary. Thus, the purpose of

MEDSURG Nursing—November/December 2010—Vol. 19/No. 6 335


this study was to identify factors Table 1.
influencing the decision of regis- Interview Questions
tered nurses to leave clinical prac-
tice. 1. What does the term bedside nursing mean to you?
In a descriptive correlational 2. How do you define the role of the bedside or clinical nurse?
study of new RNs (n=187), investi- 3. Can you explain the relationship that existed between you as the RN and your
gators found up to half had consid- patients?
ered leaving nursing within the first
4. Can you talk about the reasons or a situation that may have brought you to the
year. By the third year, almost one- decision to leave bedside nursing?
third of the new RNs had left nurs-
ing or decreased work hours to 5. Can you think of a situation that exemplifies the relationships that you had with
part-time (Cowin & Hengstberger- your co-workers while providing direct patient care?
Sims, 2006). Lafer (2005) hypothe- 6. Have you found career fulfillment in your current position?
sized the substantial loss of nurses 7. Can you describe what you would require to return to the practice of clinical
from patient care is correlated nursing?
directly to suboptimal working con-
8. Why did you decide to participate in this research?
ditions, stressors placed on RNs,
and low economic benefits com- 9. Is there anything else you would like to share with me?
pared to other industries.
For a complete understanding
of why RNs leave clinical nursing, a who left clinical practice. The ques- Currently practicing RNs at various
thorough review of RN perceptions tions used to guide the interviews hospitals in the southeastern
regarding the decision to leave clin- are presented in Table 1. United States were contacted by
ical practice is needed. Achieving the primary investigator and asked
this understanding requires aware- Methods if they knew nurses no longer in
ness of reasons RNs have elected to Sample selection and recruit- clinical practice. The email
leave clinical nursing. The review of ment. Purposive sampling was used described the study, and asked for
literature found limited research for recruitment (Patton, 2002). these nurses’ help in recruiting
about nurses who no longer prac- Inclusion criteria consisted of potential participants. Telephone
tice clinically. Takase, Maude, and licensed RNs with a minimum of 1 contact was made with each poten-
Manias (2005) noted research is year of clinical practice and no clin- tial participant prior to the inter-
needed concerning reasons RNs ical practice in the last 6 months. view process to ensure study crite-
elect to leave clinical practice; this RNs with more than 1 year of expe- ria were met. All recruitment was
topic has been overlooked repeat- rience were chosen as they could done over the telephone. An effort
edly in development of nursing pol- provide information about the fac- was made to not limit recruitment
icy. tors leading to their decision to to one hospital, but to contact all
leave clinical nursing; investigators’ known non-practicing RNs who
Methodology assumption was that the decision might be willing to participate in
The decision to leave clinical to leave clinical practice was not the study. After providing a brief
nursing often is conceptualized as related specifically to the initial description of the proposed study,
one influenced by multiple factors shock of becoming a RN (Benner, the investigator determined a
that compound over time. A phe- 1984). RNs in supervisory or educa- mutually convenient time and loca-
nomenological research design was tion roles were excluded, as were tion for the interview. Written
used to provide an in-depth under- licensed practical nurses or other informed consent assured nurses’
standing of nurses’ decisions to health care workers who self- participation in the study was vol-
leave clinical practice. Because the described as nurse. RNs who untary, anonymity would be provid-
focus of the research related to the allowed their professional licensure ed (to the fullest extent available),
perceptions of the RNs, and to lapse were excluded, based on termination of the interviews was
because no definitive research the belief they may no longer iden- allowed at any time, and consent
exists about this phenomenon, an tify themselves as nurses and thus was obtained prior to the first inter-
interpretive, qualitative study was may differ from nurses who main- view. To maintain confidentiality,
deemed appropriate. Interpretive tain licensure yet do not practice participants used a pseudonym
hermeneutic phenomenology, with clinically. RNs who were asked to during the interview.
its intent to give meaning to the surrender licensure by their state Ten semi-structured interviews
experience, was the ideal choice to boards of nursing also were exclud- were conducted in 2007. All inter-
guide this study (Benner, 1984; ed. views were audiotaped and field
Heidegger, 1962; Lincoln & Guba, Data collection and analysis pro- notes were made during the inter-
1985; Patton, 2002). cedures. After institutional review view process. Interviews were tran-
The research question for this board approval was received from scribed verbatim, and the record-
study was, “What is the experience Georgia State University, study par- ings were compared with the tran-
of RNs who leave clinical nursing?” ticipants were recruited. Recruit- scription to ensure accuracy.
Investigators conducted semi- ment was done through the snow- Participants also received copies of
structured interviews with nurses balling technique (Patton, 2002). their transcripts to review for accu-

336 MEDSURG Nursing—November/December 2010—Vol. 19/No. 6


racy. Upon review of the tran- Table 2. Often this was marked by a percep-
scripts, participants were given the Demographic Characteristics tion that others ignored patient or
opportunity to meet again with the of Participants family wishes. The third theme of
researcher to clarify any issues fatigue and exhaustion was charac-
they deemed important. Interpre- Age terized by the frequent comments
tation was ongoing during this time, 22-29: 1 regarding overwhelming emotional
with the underlying purpose to and physical exhaustion.
30-39: 1
identify why RNs decided to leave
clinical nursing. Transcriptions first 40-49: 7 Unfriendly Workplace
were reviewed as a whole with a 50-59: 1 Unfriendly workplace was re-
basic interpretation derived. From ported by all RNs in the study.
Gender
there, the use of hermeneutics Participants described being left
allowed the researcher to probe fur- Male: 2 alone or ignored as new RNs or
ther into the contextual meanings Female: 8 being told to “toughen up” under
present in the interviews the auspices of making them “bet-
(Geanellos, 2000). Interpretive Race ter nurses.” They also relayed inci-
analysis was shared with research Caucasian: 7 dents of belittling confrontations,
colleagues to ensure appropriate African American: 2 sexual harassment, or gender
interpretations were being made. abuse with co-workers. RNs de-
As analysis continued, ideas and Latina: 1 scribed perceived lack of support
major themes were identified. Highest Level of Nursing Education when they were new to the profes-
These themes were paired with like sion, and indicated this influenced
ADN: 5
themes and recorded appropriate- their clinical nursing practice and
ly, and supporting documentation BSN: 5 their decisions to leave clinical
coded. Themes emerged from the Highest Level of Other Education practice.
transcripts as analysis continued. Tony worked in a surgical inten-
BS/BA other field: 3
When a new theme would appear, sive care unit and left after 2 years of
previous transcripts were reread to MBA: 1 clinical nursing. He described his
determine if that theme was identi- Clinical Experience Setting experience as a nurse as “simply
fied in previous interviews. During disappointing.” Tony noted, “Nurses
analysis, the research team Medical-surgical nursing: 5 feed on their own. When I would ask
searched for all possible meanings Critical care nursing: 3 for help, I was ignored…It was like I
related to the decision to leave Psychiatric nursing: 1 was an inconvenience.” Tony felt
nursing to ensure a complete analy- alone and isolated as a new RN.
sis of the data. Labor and delivery: 1 Tina worked on a medical-surgi-
Was Nursing Your First Career? cal unit after her initial orientation
Results as a new RN. She had been working
Yes: 5
Sample. The majority of the par- for approximately 2 months on the
ticipants were female (n=8, 80%), No: 5 night shift when a patient care situ-
Caucasian (n=7, 70%), and ages 40-49 Currently Employed Outside the ation became chaotic and she went
(n=7, 70%). RNs practiced in a vari- Home? to find help. Two RNs were in the
ety of clinical settings, with 50% break room, and the others “could-
Yes: 7
working on medical-surgical nursing n’t be found.” She said:
units. Years of clinical practice No: 3 I was totally alone…one patient
ranged from 1 to 18 (M=6.5, SD=5.1), in what I thought was SVT, one
and number of RN positions ranged pulling out all of his lines because he
from 1 to 6 (M=2.4, SD=1.4). The was disoriented, and one who really
majority of the participants had to leave clinical nursing, three seemed to have a hard time breath-
practiced in the southeastern United themes emerged: (a) unfriendly ing. The RNs in the break room said
States (n=7, 70%). Demographics are workplace, (b) emotional distress they would be there “in a minute.” I
summarized in Table 2. related to patient care, and (c) called the supervisor [for help], and
Data analysis. Nurses reported fatigue and exhaustion. Unfriendly she told me to find my mentor. I
many positive aspects to practicing workplace was evidenced by nurses was…all alone, all the time. Yet I was
clinically. They identified interac- reporting issues of sexual harass- responsible.
tions with patients and families as ment; verbal or physical abuse Tina left clinical nursing after 1
being emotionally satisfying, and from co-workers, managers, or year. Both Tony and Tina indicated
the loss of this interaction as their physicians in the workplace; and/or they consistently felt they were
biggest regret since leaving prac- consistent lack of support from alone in their transition as RNs in
tice. Many RNs stated they “felt other RNs. The second theme, emo- an unfriendly workplace.
guilty” about no longer practicing tional distress related to the patient The theme of unfriendly work-
clinically, and many nurses cried care, was recognized when RNs place also was characterized by
during the interviews. spoke of the conflict they felt stories of gender abuse and sexual
In discussions of the decision regarding patient care decisions. harassment. All participants shared

MEDSURG Nursing—November/December 2010—Vol. 19/No. 6 337


at least one incident of abuse in the willing or able to support one home and crying, not only about
workplace. They indicated the another. Melanie felt powerless and the loss of their patients but also
behavior generally was accepted as abandoned at work. the loss of autonomy and respect as
the norm on the units where these Alice, another participant, health care professionals in the
nurses worked, and they did not recalled a similar situation when institutions in which they worked.
feel empowered to stop this cyclic she was working in a small, rural More importantly, they perceived a
abuse. John described a situation hospital. Some of the physicians lack of support and understanding
when, as a new nurse, he was work- commonly and purposefully intimi- by managers and other RNs regard-
ing in an intensive care setting. dated nurses by making sexual ing these issues.
During one of his routine trips to innuendos: These actions caused many
the medication room, a male col- I wouldn’t call it sexual harass- participants to question their pro-
league locked the door and began ment...It was just part and parcel with fessional roles. Rose talked about
to shout to others, “The faggot is in what you dealt with when we her work in the neonatal intensive
the med room, come and get him!” were…in the hospital. But it hap- care unit. Babies were sicker each
John reported this type of behavior pened, and it was accepted, and passing year. Previously, they
was viewed as a hazing ritual that essentially word got around that if would have died almost immediate-
continued for approximately 1 year you make rounds with doctor so and ly, but now were kept alive through
after that first incident. This hazing so [you should] make sure you are advances in medical technology.
stopped for one individual when a on the opposite side of the bed. You Many times Rose believed this
new nurse would join the unit, as just sort of, you dealt with it. delivery of care was pointless.
the bully could focus on someone In both these cases, the nurses We were playing God…keeping
new. John talked about how the reported a perceived acceptance of babies alive…causing undue hope
hazing just made him “sad” and this behavior by administrators. for the parents, and all the while pre-
over time “worn down.” He saw This acceptance was seen as even tending like it was ok, when we
similar behavior with slight varia- more debilitating than the harass- knew, I knew, it wasn’t…yet no one
tions repeated with all new RNs, ment itself. The overwhelming lack else seemed to agree with me.
with no one ever asking for it to of support felt by all the nurses in As Rose continued to watch
stop. John indicated the manager many different situations ultimately (and participate in) what she con-
was aware of the situation and in led to their decisions to leave clini- sidered to be futile treatment, she
his opinion “turned a blind eye.” cal practice. began to perceive her situation as
John left nursing about 1 year after All RNs described situations in hopeless and her role as helpless.
being locked in the medication which managers simply did not Almost every nurse talked
room, but says he felt the purpose address inappropriate behavior. about the distress caused by inap-
of this behavior was to “toughen This indifference and lack of sup- propriate use of advancing tech-
up” and “make better” the new port allowed a culture of horizontal nologies. Many believed prolonging
nurse. While some nurses may have hostility (HH) and bullying in the life was prolonging suffering, and it
“toughened up,” John left nursing workplace. Many of these incidents did not represent the type of nurs-
after slightly less than 2 years of occurred when the study partici- ing they wanted to practice. None
practice, tired and disappointed in pant was a new nurse, yet they indicated a solution existed to deal
his chosen profession. were the reasons nurses cited for with the perceived ethical prob-
Participants also described sit- leaving clinical practice even years lems. Many relayed stories of fre-
uations of sexual harassment or later. For many, this type of work quently crying at or about work.
hostile behavior from physicians. environment was synonymous with Nurses reported their feelings of
Melanie was a new RN working in clinical nursing and became the rea- hopelessness and emotional dis-
labor and delivery when a physi- son they would not return to clini- tress were associated with calling in
cian began throwing medications cal nursing practice in the future. sick, searching for another position,
and fluids at her while she was in a or considering leaving clinical nurs-
patient’s room. When she reported Emotional Distress Related to ing altogether. As Ruth said,
the incident to the charge nurse, Patient Care I remember near the end…I was
Melanie was asked, “What did you Overly aggressive treatment, crying, crying almost every day, even
do to start it?” Melanie reported lack of collaboration between at work, and I turned to a co-worker
feeling abandoned rather than sup- physicians and staff, and lack of and said, ‘I just don’t think it should
ported by her RN colleagues. She respect for patient and family wish- be like this.’ I mean, what kind of job
described the situation as “oppres- es caused recurrent emotional dis- do you have where you cry every
sive…you would get caught by tress among the interviewees. RNs day? That is when I knew, when I had
these (physicians)…and it was sup- reported situations in which hero- to look for another job.
posed to be ok.” What bothered ics were performed “just as learning Ruth’s story of crying epito-
Melanie more than the physical instruments,” and families were mizes the experiences of many par-
confrontation by the physician was asked to leave the room during pro- ticipants. The emotional burdens of
the lack of perceived support from cedures so they would not stop in- nursing increased to the point that
fellow nurses. She indicated it progress treatments that may have the only apparent solution was to
seemed as if she was working in a violated a patient’s wishes at end of leave clinical practice. For these
profession wherein nurses were not life. Nurses talked about going nurses, a pattern first developed of

338 MEDSURG Nursing—November/December 2010—Vol. 19/No. 6


missing work, and then ultimately mentally as well as physically and nursing attrition (Longo &
tendering their resignations when exhausting, demanding… you are Sherman, 2007; Murrells, Robinson,
the stressors of providing care going to burn out, as no one supports & Griffiths, 2008). Despite recogni-
became too much. you, stands by you…you are always tion of HH in the nursing workplace,
working, always on your feet, always the cycle of abuse has led some per-
Fatigue and Exhaustion thinking. It doesn’t end…ever…your sons to leave a profession about
Working in an unfriendly work- brain is always in overtime. which they were once excited. The
place and being exposed to emo- Melanie, like many of the RNs, moral dilemmas and conflicts
tionally distressing dilemmas on a felt she was always “on,” never hav- encountered by many nurses have
frequent basis was followed typical- ing time to recuperate from the left such indelible marks on their
ly by insurmountable fatigue and daily stressors of working as a bed- perceptions of nursing that they
exhaustion. Alice describes being side clinician. hesitated to return to clinical nurs-
“bone tired” the 6 months before Haley described the fatigue and ing. Study participants originally
deciding to quit. Olivia said she exhaustion best when she noted believed they could make a valu-
sometimes felt “too tired to go on” nursing is a profession only another able contribution through clinical
and “tired all the time.” Melanie nurse understands. She said nurs- nursing, yet they believed they
stated she “bordered on burnout, ing simply cannot compare to other never could return to nursing prac-
all because I cared.” Increased professions because, “After all, who tice in that context. All the nurses
absenteeism was common during is going to die if the weather man expressed guilt about not working
this time as participants believed tells you it isn’t going to rain and it clinically, but none were willing to
they simply “couldn’t do one more does?” One interpretation of this is return to clinical practice.
thing.” Others noted they purpose- that the constant vigilance required A lack of support was docu-
fully would not answer the tele- in clinical nursing frequently is mented initially by Kramer (1974)
phone for fear of being called into overlooked and under recognized, as a primary reason for nurses to
work. Alice stated, providing holistic patient care is leave professional practice. Lack of
You are always on. Thinking and emotionally and physically de- support, HH, and moral distress all
working. And it is not that you are manding, and all demands increase have been documented subse-
always on when you are there….You exponentially when a lack of cama- quently as associated with job dis-
are on when you get home. It takes raderie exists. Alternatively, Haley satisfaction and nursing attrition
hours, sometimes days, to relax after felt totally responsible for her (Longo & Sherman, 2007; Patrick,
a particularly bad day…I am para- clients. She believed no one under- 2000; Vahey et al., 2004; Young,
noid about phone calls these days. I stood what she was experiencing; Stuenkel, & Bawel-Brinkley, 2008).
hated to answer the phone to say no, she was all alone. Many partici- The findings from the current study
to not go in, but I hated to say yes, pants said nursing was simply “too also suggest retention efforts
knowing what that phone call would much,” indicating the levels of should focus on work environ-
mean. stress and exhaustion ultimately ments, including recognizing and
Alice’s fear of phone calls sim- drove them from clinical practice. then eliminating HH and vertical
ply underscored her overwhelming Scholars have recognized emotion- indifference. The combination of
fatigue from constantly working, al or mental fatigue, coupled with these two elements ultimately led
and feeling it was never enough. physical fatigue, may be represen- each interviewee to leave clinical
Knowing a telephone call could tative of the syndrome of burnout nursing.
mean she would be asked to work (Maslach, 1982; Trossman, 2007; Limitations of the study include
on a non-scheduled day increased Vahey, Aiken, Sloane, Clarke, & a relatively small sample size.
her inability to rest on her days off, Vargas, 2004). Although participants reported dif-
contributing even further to her fering levels of abuse, it is unknown
fatigue. When Alice went to work Discussion if this finding would be replicated
after being called in on her day off, Study participants believed on a larger scale. The reason some
she reported those days were they had to leave clinical nursing RNs consider abuse acceptable in
always harder and more demand- practice; this was the only recourse clinical practice also is unclear.
ing because, inevitably, others were for them in basically untenable situ- Further research is needed to
not at work as scheduled, or the ations. Most participants felt a lack explore the power differential
patient census suddenly had taken of support in the workplace at among RNs, its relation to percep-
a sharp increase. These were the many levels, and these RNs were tions of HH and vertical indiffer-
days Alice said she simply “couldn’t most troubled when the lack of sup- ence, and its ultimate impact on
do one more thing.” She reported port arose from their peers. This nursing turnover or intent. No
being both emotionally and physi- also extended vertically to feelings other research has explored RNs’
cally drained during these times, that management and physicians potential vulnerability or resiliency
and her recovery from these inci- did not support the RN in clinical to perceptions of HH and vertical
dents took longer each time they practice. indifference. Full understanding of
occurred. For many years, HH and moral reasons for RNs’ departure from
Melanie’s story supported distress have been identified as per- clinical nursing will enable nurse
Alice’s descriptions: vasive problems that may lead to managers to implement effective
If you are doing a good job, it is job dissatisfaction, nurse burnout, strategies to retain current staff.

MEDSURG Nursing—November/December 2010—Vol. 19/No. 6 339


Nursing Implications recent national surveys of RNs. Nursing alternative approach. Nursing and Health
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ing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. ages or a shortage of evidence? Journal
diversity, have a zero tolerance pol- Murrells, T., Robinson, S., & Griffiths, P. (2008). of Advanced Nursing, 56(5), 457-458.
icy for HH, and provide support net- Job satisfaction trends during nurses’ Duffield, C., Pallas, L.O., Aitken, L.M., Roche,
works for nurses experiencing emo- early career. Retrieved from M., & Merrick, E.T. (2006). Recruitment of
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tion of the nurse in clinical practice. 6955/7/7 of Nursing Administration, 36(2), 58-62.
Patrick, S. (2000). Managers shoulder burden Gutierrez, K.M. (2005). Critical care nurses’
This study provides broad con- of retaining staff. Retrieved from perceptions of and responses to moral
ceptualizations of why nurses http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/sto- distress. Dimensions in Critical Care
leave clinical practice. Exploring ries/2000/08/14/story7.html Nursing, 24(5), 229-241.
these concepts in more detail is Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and Kovner, C.T., Brewer, C.S., Fairchild, S.,
evaluation methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Poornima, S., Kim, H., & Djukic, M.
necessary and will benefit every Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. (2007). Newly licensed RNs’ characteris-
nurse, every patient, and every Takase, M., Maude, P., & Manias, E. (2005). tics, work attitudes, and intentions to
family, and ultimately improve Nurses’ job dissatisfaction and turnover work. American Journal of Nursing,
quality of care. intention: Methodological myths and an 107(9), 58-70.

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