Why nurses stay in departments with low turnover: A constructivist approach

Abstract

Hospital nursing shortage is a global problem caused by nurse dissatisfaction with their manager, an extensive workload and a stressful work environment. The study aimed to investigate nurses’ experiences of practices in hospital departments with low nurse turnover rates in relation to culture, work environment, nursing competencies, and nurse management. A constructivist design using a positive deviance approach was used for this study. Four hospital departments with the lowest nurse turnover in the Zealand region of Denmark served as settings. Data were collected from 13 nurses through focus-group conversations and analysed using directed content analysis. The reporting adhered to the COREQ checklist. The three themes – collaborative fellowship, professional pride, and embracing management – revealed a sense of community between nurses and department managers. Even though the nurses’ daily practice was exhausting, they stayed in their positions due to the special culture in the departments, which brought the nurses closer together.