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More Nurses Staying in
Hospital Jobs Supporting the notion that Ohio hospitals are a desirable place to work, turnover rates in 2002 decreased for all hospital positions and specifically for registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs). In 2002, the statewide RN turnover rate was 12.4 percent, compared to 15.5 percent in 2001, according to an OHA survey of Ohio hospitals. About 84 percent of Ohio hospitals participated in the survey in 2002. The LPN turnover rate was reduced at an even greater margin to 15.1 percent versus 19.4 percent in 2001. Overall, hospital turnover rates organization-wide averaged 14.7 percent in 2002, down from 18.1 percent the previous year. Turnover rates decreased in the nation’s hospitals as well, though Ohio faired better during both years. The national overall turnover rate dropped from 24.4 percent in 2001 to 22 percent in 2002. Turnover rates do not account for vacancies, which many hospitals have for nurses and other health care professionals such as pharmacists and radiographers. While vacancy rates point to a shortage in personnel — not enough qualified people to fill open positions — low turnover rates indicate that hospitals are retaining the qualified people they already employ. Ohio’s RN vacancy rate was 6.9 percent in 2002. That year the LPN vacancy rate was 8.8 percent. The turnover drop suggests Ohio hospitals offer their staffs a working environment where employees are fulfilled and rewarded. In a national survey of 7,600 registered nurses conducted by NurseWeek magazine and the American Organization of Nurses, 71 percent of RNs reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their present job as a nurse. Another explanation for the lower turnover rates could be that during a shaky economy, like the current one, people tend to stay in their current positions for security. The decline in turnover rates also represents achievement of OHA’s adoption in 2000 of a strategic objective calling for Ohio hospitals to attract and retain talented and dedicated employees. As part of that objective, OHA established a goal that hospitals’ organization-wide turnover rates decrease by 3 percent by 2004. Beating that goal by 2 years, the overall turnover rate in hospitals decreased nearly four percent from 2001 to 2002. Ohio hospital turnover rates were lower in 2002 than they have been in five years. Hospitals were the driving force behind the adoption of the workforce objective and have been the reason for its success. In addition to recruiting talented employees, hospitals across the state are involved in amazing efforts to retain a dedicated workforce. One such effort designed to take this success to the next level is FutureThink, an initiative of OHA and the Ohio Organization of Nurse Executives, which seeks to employ technology, preventative health care and other strategies to more creatively and efficiently use the limited human resources in hospitals. The effort will allow health care professionals to concentrate on doing what they got into health care to do — providing quality care to patients. OHA’s study is conducted each year by Management Science Associates (MSA) and surveys all Ohio hospitals. MSA defines hospital turnover rates as the percent of a total employee group specified, such as RNs, who have left their position in the 12 months prior to the effective date of the survey, which is May 1, 2002, for the 2002 OHA salary survey. The rate is calculated as the number of people who left the hospital’s employment during that year divided by the average number of people employed during that year, multiplied by 100. For example, if between May 1, 2001, and May 1, 2002, 10 RNs resigned or were terminated from a hospital that employed 100 people, the RN turnover rate is 10 percent for that hospital in 2002.
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