Nurse Manager Turnover

Management and leadership are hard, particularly in the field of nursing. According to Toby Bressler and Lauren Ghazal in an article they published in 2024, evaluation of a study from The American Organization for Nursing Leadership provided insight into the problem of nursing leadership turnover. The AONL partnered with Joslin Insight to conduct a five-part longitudinal study on the challenges facing nurse leaders.

"Average turnover rate for front-line nurse managers is around two years, and in the Northeast U.S., the current vacancy rate stands at roughly 15%. Imagine if the CEO of a non-medical organization turned over every two years. There would be immediate attention given to why such turnover existed."

Many factors contribute to nurse manager burnout. My list comes from a variety of resources including my own experience, stories told by managers I have and am currently coaching, as well as numerous articles and studies. The list is extensive. These are just a few of the most common causes I have experienced or learned about in my research:

• Poor to no training or preparation for being in a leadership role

• Poor to no communication with upper management

• Bullying or intimidation in the workplace

• Lack of knowledge related to leadership styles and principles

• Poor to no orientation of the management position

• Poor alignment of mission and goals

• Inadequate staffing

• Workload

• Inability to adapt to rapidly changing environment

• Calling - Why does a person become a manager? Is it in alignment with personal mission and goals? Is it in alignment with the organization?

• Inability to set priorities

• Imbalance between personal and work life

It is vitally important to your well-being to verbalize the things that are weighing you down in your personal life and in your work life and to develop strategies for growth and improvement. How are you doing in this regard? What resources do you have to be the best manager you can possibly be? Hang in there! There is help!