Healthcare employee turnover rates, especially among nursing staff, have risen rapidly across facilities and organizations in the last decade. In hospitals, departments such as behavioral health, step-down units, and emergency departments have all suffered from high turnover among nurses. However, without a doubt, the highest turnover rates in healthcare are found in long-term care facilities and nursing homes.
For-profit facilities and chain-owned skilled nursing facilities have exhibited the highest rates of turnover among CNAs and LPNs in long-term care facilities. Some facilities reported staggering annual total nursing staff turnover rates. In many accounts, these rates increased by more than 300% annually. That’s not only staggering but detrimental to patient care.
So, what can be done to reduce turnover rates among CNAs and LPNs in long-term care facilities? We have a few ideas we’d like to share with you. Not only will your retention rates among staff improve, but the overall workplace environment and patient satisfaction will improve as well.
Why CNAs and LPNs Leave
Before we delve into how your long-term care facility can retain staff and slow turnover rates, let’s take a look at what contributes to CNAs and LPNs leaving so easily:
- Demanding Patient Load: A high workload and accompanying pressure contribute significantly to higher turnover rates among CNAs and LPNs.
- Mandatory Overtime: Facilities that struggle with understaffing often try to make it up by enforcing mandatory overtime. Long-term care facilities that use this practice typically see the highest turnover rates.
- Burnout: Plain and simple, these demanding workloads take an emotional and physiological toll on nursing staff, causing them to burn out and move on.
- No Support: When CNAs and LPNs, as well as other care staff, don’t feel as though they have any support in the workplace, this, combined with insufficient staffing, increases workplace stress and causes turnover.
- Compensation isn’t Competitive: While all of these are contributing factors to increased turnover rates among CNAs and LPNs, a lack of competitive compensation only adds insult to injury. If your facility fails your nursing staff by not offering support, understaffing regularly, increasing patient load, requiring mandatory overtime, and not compensating them fairly, then good luck retaining quality CNAs and LPNs.
What You Can Do to Reduce Turnover in Your Long-Term Care Facility
The advantages of retaining your nursing staff are countless. Your organization saves money when there’s no need to recruit and onboard endlessly; your CNAs and LPNs retain the appropriate skills as they continue working with your patients, gaining knowledge and experience, and improving the quality of care, which bodes well for your facility’s reputation. Given the big picture, why wouldn’t you want to do all you can to reduce turnover rates among CNAs and LPNs in your long-term care facility? Here are some ways to do just that.
Find The Right Staff
Sometimes the reason a staff member leaves is simply because they were not the right fit. Use strategies to help identify someone who not only has the skills your facility requires but also fits well with your company culture and behavioral foundation. One way to do this is by asking certain questions that exhibit their behavior in situations. Ask them about a time when a change in routine was required. How did they handle it, and how did they learn from that pivot? This will provide some insight into how well this person will work with your team.
Be Proactive
Provide a clear understanding of your workplace culture before you hire a new staff member. Also, establish your onboarding and mentorship program so your new hire has support from day one.
Recognize and Reward Your Nursing Staff
Your CNAs and LPNs will feel supported and appreciated when their good job is called out. If you find someone going above and beyond, make sure they are recognized for that. Incentivize a job well done with monthly recognition and rewards.
Encourage Work-Life Balance
No matter how much you support and recognize your CNAs and LPNs, no one will want to stay in a job that doesn’t allow them time with their family and friends or to simply get away. Make sure you offer competitive PTO, family leave, and flexible scheduling.
Check in with Your Staff and Help Develop Their Career
Check in with your staff and find out how things are going for them. Support them in their career development by offering opportunities to learn new skills or achieve new certifications. Have an open-door policy that allows your CNAs and LPNs to come forward with any concerns or issues.
For more on how you can reduce turnover among CNAs and LPNs at your long-term care facility, and how you can find the right staff when you need them, please contact BOS Medical Staffing today.
