Several strategies have been adopted in an effort to reduce this shortfall. In Australia, many of these efforts have focussed on expanding the number of training places available for nurses (Department of Employment Education and Workplace Relations 2008) and reducing the costs of
students’ education by designating nursing as an area of ‘national priority’ (Department of Employment Education and Workplace Relations 2009). Whilst attracting new nursing staff to the profession is one means of addressing the current staff shortages, such an approach provides only a partial solution (Ulrich et al. 2005). Rather, as overseas studies have suggested, health care organisations also need to be more pro-active in improving staff retention. Studies from
the USA have suggested that the turnover rate for registered nurses is around 20% per year (Kleinman 2004b, Force 2005,Cohen et al. 2009), although some organisations have reported turnover rates in excess of 36% per year (Stone et al. 2007, Gess et al. 2008). Turnover rates for registered nurses in the UK are similarly high, with estimates ranging from 11–38% per year (Finlayson et al. 2002).