Research by the University of Surrey on factors affecting nurse retention in the NHS reveals that age is among the primary predictors of whether someone will stay or go.
In their study, published earlier this week, the researchers highlighted that retention was lowest for both younger and older staff, the latter due to retirement, for which there is little one can change.
“Recent developments have given me hope that more progress is being made in supporting new staff and for retaining them in the sector”
But for younger staff, at the start of their careers, NHS trusts and boards can very much influence whether nurses and midwives want to stay at their organisation, or indeed in the NHS itself, or not.
As well as general workplace culture, I feel this is where preceptorship programmes come into their own in terms of importance.
And that is why Nursing Times, along with Unison and the Florence Nightingale Foundation, has been campaigning for several years now for access for newly registered staff to good quality preceptorship.
Two recent developments have given me reason to hope that more progress is being made in this vital area, both for supporting new staff individually and for retaining them in the sector itself.
First, the chief nursing officer (CNO) for Wales has mandated preceptorship and restorative clinical supervision for all nurses in the country.
CNO Sue Tranka has told NHS health boards and trusts in Wales that they must make sure they have “career spanning” support in place for their nurses.
This includes providing a preceptorship programme for newly registered nurses and access to restorative clinical supervision for nurses throughout their career starting from being a student.
It follows the publication of a national preceptorship framework for England in 2022, which all newly qualified staff “should receive” according to NHS England, and Scotland’s Flying Start programme.
The Scottish Government requires all newly registered nurses, midwives and allied health professionals to complete Flying Start NHS in the first 12 months of practice.
Therefore, the policy in Wales, which was first mooted last year, is a very welcome addition and means more and more newly registered staff around the UK should be supported by preceptorship.
Of course, there is still variance in geographical quality and access to such programmes, so our campaign remains in place as we look to drive further improvements and build on the success so far.
On that note, I was extremely pleased to see that care home operator HC-One has become the first social care provider to achieve the national gold standard for a nursing preceptorship programme.
It has attained the National Preceptorship Interim Quality Mark Award for meeting the ‘gold standard’ criteria for its nursing preceptorship programme, six months after it was launched.
The interim quality mark (IQM) was introduced as part of the national nursing preceptorship framework in England. Last month marked two years since the launch of the framework.
HC-One is the UK’s largest care home operator, with more than 275 care homes across England, Scotland and Wales specialising in dementia, nursing and residential care for older people.
So, this is not only a win because it is a first for social care but also because it means that its positive impact will be felt widely by new staff working in the sector.
Of course, I could not let the opportunity pass to promote the 2024 Nursing Times Workforce Awards, which have not long been launched for submissions and nominations.
This year, to acknowledge the vital importance of supporting and retaining early years nurses, we are excited to introduce a new awards category dedicated to celebrating preceptees.
The Preceptee of the Year award will complement our existing categories for preceptors and preceptorship programmes, Preceptor of the Year and Preceptorship Programme of the Year.
I look forward to presenting trophies to the winning individuals and organisations later this year, especially our inaugural Preceptor of the Year.
Retention is at least as recruitment. There is no point in continuing to pour staff into the funnel of health and social care if they are not supported and nurtured to stay, possibly for their entire career.
The evidence shows that efforts being made to improve preceptorship and, in turn, the retention of nursing staff at the beginning of their careers, are well worth it. Employers must back this to the hilt.