Exploring and describing the factors that influence emergency department nurse retention

Transformational leadership style is widely believed to be the most effective leadership style. Using this style tends to bring about positive outcomes, increased job satisfaction, and decreased staff turnover. Intent to turnover of staff may not be solely dependent on leadership styles as other factors may also influence one’s decision to leave a job or workplace. A significant concern of companies despite their locality, number of employees or type of business is turnover intention. High nursing turnover is a continuous and an increasing problem in the Emergency Department (ED). The purpose of the quantitative non-experimental study is to explore and describe the factors that influence ED nurse retention and their intention to leave (ITL). Therefore, it is important to identify key factors that influence ED nurse retention and ITL. The sample consisted of 100 Emergency Department Registered Nurses. Results of the T-test for research question one indicated no statistical significance between transformational leadership and turnover intention scores; Nurse Managers who exhibit characteristics of a strong transformational leader retain more ED Nurses than those Nurse Managers who do not exhibit characteristics of a transformational leader. Results of the T-test for research question two indicated no statistical difference in Nurse Managers who practice nursing engagement strategies (nursing management, professional practice, physician collaboration, staffing resources, and shift work) with ED Nurses would have equal or similar Turnover intention scores than those who do not practice nursing engagement strategies. Overall, the findings of this study suggested that nursing engagement strategies are key factors in retaining nurses in the ED. Therefore, in developing strategies for retention, it is critically important for nurse managers to focus on the influencing factors of engagement: nursing management, professional practice, collaboration with physicians, staffing resources and shift work