The nursing shortage is projected to intensify in the United States. Organizations providing specialized hospice and palliative care will be particularly hard hit. The purpose of our study was to examine the influence of the nursing unit on registered nurse (RN) vacancies and test the moderating role of recruitment strategies in perinatal hospices. We estimated the association between the nursing unit and RN vacancies and tested the interaction effects of recruitment strategies (signing bonus and recruitment bonus). Our findings showed that increasing RN unit size and nursing leadership directly affected vacancies and that recruitment bonuses had stronger influence on reducing vacancies than signing bonuses. The findings offer critical insights for hospice administrators in attracting nurses among specialized hospice and palliative care providers.
Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association. HPNA Position Statement: Shortage of Registered Nurses; 2011. Web site. www.hpna.org/PicView.aspx?ID=28. Accessed November 11, 2014.
BuerhausPIDonelanKUlrichBTNormanLWilliamsMDittusR. Hospital RNs’ and CNOs’ perceptions of the impact of the nursing shortage on the quality of care. Nurs Econ. 2005;23
(5):214–221.
9.
AikenLHClarkeSPSloaneDMSochalskiJSilberJH. Hospital nurse staffing and patient mortality, nurse burnout, and job dissatisfaction. JAMA. 2002;288
(16):1987–1993. doi:10.1001/jama.288.16.1987.
10.
AikenLHSloaneDMCimiottiJP. Implications of the California nurse staffing mandate for other states. Health Serv Res. 2010;45
(4):904–921. doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2010.01114.x.
11.
BlegenMAGoodeCJSpetzJVaughnTParkSH. Nurse staffing effects on patient outcomes: safety-net and non-safety-net hospitals. Med Care. 2011;49
(4):406–414. doi:10.1097/MLR.0b013e318202e129.
12.
NeedlemanJBuerhausPPankratzVSLeibsonCLStevensSRHarrisM. Nurse staffing and inpatient hospital mortality. N Engl J Med. 2011;364
(11):1037–1045. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa1001025.
13.
Tubbs-CooleyHLCimiottiJPSilberJHSloaneDMAikenLH. An observational study of nurse staffing ratios and hospital readmission among children admitted for common conditions. BMJ Qual Saf. 2013;22
(9):735–742. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001610.
14.
FowlerNC. Enlightened personnel policies help reduce the high cost of nursing turnover. Modern Hosp. 1950;75
(6):61–62.
NeiDSnyderLALitwillerBJ. Promoting retention of nurses: a meta-analytic examination of causes of nurse turnover. Health C Manag Rev. 2015;40
(3):237–253.
17.
Al-HussamiMDarawadMSalehAHayajnehFA. Predicting nurses’ turnover intentions by demographic characteristics, perception of health, quality of work attitude. Int J Nurs Pract. 2014;20
(1):79–88. doi:10.1111/ijn.12124.
18.
GaoFNewcombePTilseCWilsonJTuckettA. Models for predicting turnover of residential aged care nurses: a structural equation modeling analysis of secondary data. Int J Nurs Stud. 2014;51(9):1258–1270. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2014.01.011.
19.
BeyersMMullnerRByreCSWhiteheadSF. Results of the nursing personnel survey, part 2: RN vacancies and turnover. J Nurs Adm. 1983;13
(5):26–31.
20.
LipleyN. Staff survey raises fears of ’dumbed down’ care as employers fail to fill vacancies. Nurs Manag. 2011;17(10):4.
21.
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. AAOS Position Statement: Shortage of Nursing Professionals; 2009. Web site. www.aaos.org/about/papers/position/1158.asp. Accessed November 11, 2014.
BurkesDRoppAL. Are signing bonuses an effective nursing recruitment and retention strategy?MCN Am J Matern Child Nurs. 2003;28
(5):290–291.
24.
MunsonDLeuthnerSR. Palliative care for the family carrying a fetus with a life-limiting diagnosis. Pediatr Clin North Am. 2007;54:787–798.
25.
SumnerLHKavanaughKMoroT. Extending palliative care into pregnancy and the immediate newborn period: State of the practice of perinatal palliative care. J Perinat Neonatal Nurs. 2006;20
(1):113–116.
26.
United States Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Home and Hospice Care Survey. ICPSR28961-v1 (Data File). Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (distributor); 2007. doi:10.3886/ICPSR28961.v1.
27.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Home and Hospice Care Survey; 2007. Web site. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhhcs.htm. Accessed March 15, 2014.
28.
LindleyLCFornehedMLMixerSJ. A comparison of the nurse work environment between perinatal and non-perinatal hospice providers. Int J Palliat Nurs. 2013;19
(11):535–540.
