Understanding Registered Nurse Turnover in the U.S.
Investigators: Cheryl B. Jones, PhD, RN; George Knafl, PhD; Meriel McCollum, BSN, RN, PhD student
Overview: Although nurse workforce shortages are not new, concerns about a shortfall of nurses have
increasingly intensified across healthcare settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to provide a baseline understanding of RN turnover through a cross-sectional analysis of the most recent data (2020 release) from the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses.
Methods: Data from the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN), a publicly available and nationally representative data source produced by the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in collaboration with the US Census Bureau, was used to model RN turnover that occurred between December 2016 and December 2017. Descriptive analyses and logistic regressions using sampling weights helped the study examine how RN turnover varied by the following factors: sociodemographic, professional, and economic.
Findings: Forthcoming when manuscript is published and publicly available.
Policy Implications: These data shed light on the areas where health care leaders can target interventions to retain nurses most at risk of turnover while policymakers can tailor programs to meet the needs of different sociodemographic, professional, employment, and economic groups.
- Jones CB, Kim S, McCollum M, Tran AK. New insights on a recurring theme: A secondary analysis of nurse turnover using the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Nursing Outlook. 2024 Mar 1;72(2):102107.
- Jones C, Sinhye K, McCollum M, Tran A. Understanding Registered Nurse Turnover in the U.S.: New Insights on a Recurring Theme. Carolina Health Workforce Research Center, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, UNC-CH. June 2023.
- Jones C, Kim S, McCollum M, Tran A. 2023 June. Understanding Registered Nurse Turnover in the U.S: New Insights for a Recurring Problem. Abstract. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carolina Health Workforce Research Center.
- Patel E, Jones C. Nursing Employment Settings in Hospitals: A Comparison of NSSRN and North Carolina RN Licensure Data. Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center. HWTAC Webinar Series: RN Research Using the NSSRN. February 18, 2021.