Number of staff who consider leaving cause for alarm: expert

Just under a third of nurses and midwives reported they have considered leaving the profession in a survey that has sparked concern over retention of skilled workers.

The research also revealed a quarter of nurses felt they were either likely or very likely to leave the profession, while 85 per cent of respondents felt that their jobs required them to work very fast, very hard.

The study's lead, associate professor Peter Holland from Monash Business School, said the research sounds a warning call to those charged with managing the workforce and the sector.

What Nurses & Midwives Want: Findings from the National Survey on Workplace Climate and Well-being, was conducted by Holland, Tse Leng Tham and Dr Fenella Gill, who is also a research fellow at Curtin University.

The School’s Australian Consortium for Research on Employment and Work has undertaken the survey about every three years since 2011. Nursing Review sat down with Holland to discuss how this year’s findings stack up against previous surveys and what needs to be done to ensure the sector won’t face a shortage of nurses and midwives in the near future.

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