Newly licensed registered nurses (NLRNs) care about:
- Doing their job well
- Being fairly rewarded for their work
- Receiving a good pay
Unsafe, poorly managed and poorly equipped work environments hold NLRNs back:
- 25% reported at least one on-the-job needle-stick
- 39% reported at least one strain or sprain
- 21% reported a cut or laceration
- 46% reported a bruise or contusion
- 62% reported verbal abuse
- 17% found it difficult or impossible to do their job at least once a month because of their supervisor
- 21% found it difficult or impossible to do their job at least once a month because of incorrect instructions
- 25% found it difficult or impossible to do their job at least once a week because of inadequate supplies
NLRNs work long hours:
- Almost 13% worked mandatory overtime
- 51% worked voluntary overtime
Most NLRNs work in hospitals:
- About 85% of new nurses work in hospitals 18 months after graduation
- 3 ½ to 4 ½ years after graduation, that number has dropped to 71%
Is Quality Improvement possible?
- 38.6% of NLRNs thought that they were “poorly” or “very poorly” prepared for or had “never heard of” Quality Improvement
- Bachelor degree graduates reported having more Quality Improvement education in their nursing education programs than associate degree graduates.
NLRNs don’t leave nursing, but they do leave their employers!
- 41% planned to leave their first job within 3 years
- 18.1% left their first nursing job within 13 months of starting
- 26.2% left their first nursing job within 25 months of starting
Why do NLRNs leave their first job?
- Top 3 professional reasons: poor management, stressful work, wanting experience in another clinical area
- Top 3 personal reasons: moving to a different geographic area, partner takes a job elsewhere, compatible school schedule
