Abstract:
Nurse attrition leads to higher costs and difficulty providing quality patient care.
Healthcare organizations must implement strategies to retain qualified new registered
nurses. The purpose of this study is to compare job satisfaction, intent to stay, and
retention rates of new registered nurses hired before and after the implementation of a
formal mentoring program at Community Health Systems facilities. This is a replication
of Halfer, Graf, and Sullivan’s (2008) study. The study will take place in six Community
Health Systems facilities located in six different states across the USA. The sample will
include 50 new registered nurses from each facility. Benner’s Novice to Expert Theory
(1982) will serve as the study framework. Job satisfaction will be measured by the
McCloskey-Mueller Job Satisfaction scale and intent to stay measured by the
Occupational Commitment 2000 survey (Blau, 2003) at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months from hire
date. Retention rates will be calculated at 1 and 5 years after the last data collection using
human resources records from the facilities. T-test data analysis will be used to compare
mean group scores and detect significant differences. Findings will validate the use of
mentoring programs as a way to improve job satisfaction and retention rates, and
highlight areas in need of improvement where job satisfaction is lower.
