Date of Award
Summer 8-31-2025
Document Type
Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscript
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice
Department
Nursing
First Advisor
Kathy Klimpel, PH.D., CNS, ACHIP
Abstract
Abstract
Background: The nursing workforce decreased by 100,000 nurses from 2021 to 2022. Such a drop has not been seen in the last 40 years of the nursing profession. The frequency of job turnover among newly hired nurse graduates is troublesome. Research reveals 30% to 69% of new graduate nurses voluntarily leave their positions within a year of employment. Nurse residency programs help new graduate nurses’ transition from advanced beginners to competent professionals and focus on areas critical to new graduate success. The cost of training a new graduate nurse to be a competent perioperative nurse may be upwards of $120,000. That significant financial burden on facilities is only expected to grow as surgical volumes steadily increase, attrition rates remain high, and more staff are needed to be trained.
Purpose: The objective of this evidence-based project is to systematically identify the factors that contribute to the increased risk of attrition among perioperative nurse residency students. Through the administration of a structured survey, data elucidates the various factors influencing student retention within a community hospital’s perioperative nurse residency program. The project will also support targeted interventions designed to address the identified factors of attrition. The goal of this project is to enhance the overall success of nurse residency students, thereby increasing program graduation rates.
Methods: Upon hire to the Perioperative nurse residency program, and every seven days thereafter, until graduation or attrition, students participated in a survey derived from evidence-based antecedents and correlations of employee turnover. The design and implementation identified students at risk. The dashboard provided automation and logic for notification to stakeholders for intervention actions, if required.
Evaluation of Outcomes/Results: The dashboard identified three students in the first cohort at week one, as at risk for attrition and focused interventions were implemented to mitigate on an individualized level. The risk levels decreased weekly with intervention until week 4 for all at risk students. Compared to previous cohort graduation rates of less than fifty percent, the cohort who were participants in the project graduated 100%.
Conclusion: To optimize outcomes for both students and institutions, it is essential to implement comprehensive processes and interventions that facilitate the early identification of at-risk nursing students. By providing tailored resources and support, we can enhance student success rates while fostering the financial stability and organizational effectiveness of nursing programs.
Keywords: nursing retention, nurse attrition, surgical nurse residency, determinant factors
Digital USD Citation
Mangan, Bridgette D., "Improving Perioperative Nursing Residency Student Retention: Identifying and Mitigating Factors Causing Attrition in a Nursing Residency Program" (2025). Doctor of Nursing Practice Final Manuscripts. 320.
https://digital.sandiego.edu/dnp/320
Copyright
Copyright held by the author