Adult nurse turnover and retention: South London project report

This project was commissioned by Health Education South London (HESL) in response to the workforce planning process for 2014/15 indicating an unprecedented increase in demand for adult nurses in NHS Trusts. The focus of the project was to identify issues and interventions to improve retention of adult nurses and reduce the rate of leaving jobs (turnover). During 2015 the work of the project has included: a systematic literature review to examine evidence of determinants, costs and interventions of adult nurse turnover; analysis of adult nurse workforce data to identify trends and rates in sub-groups of nurses and by characteristics of their employment context; interviews with senior nurse and human resource managers across South London for views and examples of initiatives to reduce turnover; interviews with adult nurses and nurse managers managers as to their views on the issues and initiatives that might help retain nurses. The evidence from each element is presented and then synthesised.