Hiring healthcare professionals is challenging. Keeping them can be even harder.
Healthcare workers deal with demanding schedules, high workloads, emotional stress, and the responsibility of caring for patients every day. When experienced employees leave, organizations don’t just lose a team member—they also lose valuable knowledge and experience while facing the cost and time of recruiting and training someone new.
According to the American Hospital Association’s 2026 Health Care Workforce Scan, first-year RN turnover reached 22.3%, compared with an overall RN turnover rate of 16.4%. The report also identifies emotional stress, physical demands, and insufficient staffing as factors affecting healthcare workforce retention.
So, what can healthcare organizations actually do to keep their best employees?
Salary isn’t the only reason healthcare professionals stay, but it remains an important factor.
Healthcare organizations should regularly review compensation to make sure pay remains competitive with the local market and the responsibilities of the role.
Beyond base salary, employers can consider:
Competitive compensation can show employees that their skills, experience, and contributions are valued.
Healthcare can’t always offer traditional 9-to-5 schedules, but employers can still provide flexibility where possible.
Self-scheduling, predictable schedules, alternative shifts, part-time options, and flexible shift lengths can make it easier for employees to balance work with their personal lives.
The American Hospital Association has identified scheduling flexibility and alternative work arrangements as strategies that can support healthcare workforce retention.
Sometimes, giving employees more control over when they work can make a significant difference in whether they stay.
Burnout is more than simply feeling tired after a difficult shift.
If employees are consistently dealing with understaffing, excessive workloads, long hours, or inefficient processes, wellness programs alone won’t solve the problem.
Healthcare organizations should look at what is actually causing employees to become overwhelmed.
This can include:
Retention improves when organizations address the problems that make employees want to leave in the first place.
Managers have a major influence on the employee experience.
Healthcare professionals want to feel that their concerns are heard and that leadership understands the challenges they face.
Regular one-on-one conversations, open communication, accessible leadership, and timely responses to workplace concerns can help build trust.
Managers should regularly ask questions such as:
“What’s making your job harder than it needs to be?”
More importantly, they should take action when employees provide feedback.
Employees are more likely to stay when they can see a future within the organization.
Healthcare organizations can support career development through:
For example, a staff nurse may want to eventually become a charge nurse, clinical educator, nurse manager, or advanced practice professional.
Showing employees how they can progress within the organization gives them another reason to stay.
Healthcare professionals handle difficult situations every day, and recognition can go a long way.
Recognition doesn’t always have to involve a financial reward.
A personal thank-you from a manager, employee recognition programs, team celebrations, or opportunities to highlight achievements can help employees feel appreciated.
The key is to make recognition genuine and consistent.
Retention starts from the first day.
New healthcare professionals can easily feel overwhelmed when entering a demanding environment, particularly when they don’t receive enough guidance or support.
A strong onboarding process should include:
This is especially important for new nurses, who may be at greater risk of burnout and turnover during their first year.
The goal shouldn’t be to simply get new employees through orientation. It should be to help them feel confident, supported, and connected to the organization.
Healthcare professionals need to feel safe speaking up, asking questions, reporting concerns, and communicating with their colleagues.
Toxic workplace behavior, bullying, poor communication, and workplace violence can quickly damage employee morale.
Organizations should actively build a culture based on:
A positive workplace culture isn’t something that can be created through a single initiative. It has to be reflected in the everyday employee experience.
Healthcare professionals want to focus on patient care, not spend unnecessary hours dealing with inefficient systems.
Organizations should identify repetitive tasks and processes that can be simplified or automated.
Technology can help with areas such as scheduling, documentation, communication, and recruitment when implemented properly.
Even small improvements that save employees time can reduce frustration and allow them to focus more of their energy on patient care.
Retention doesn’t begin after someone is hired. It starts with the expectations you create during recruitment.
If your organization promotes a positive workplace culture but employees experience something completely different after joining, the disconnect can quickly lead to dissatisfaction.
A strong employer brand should accurately communicate your organization’s:
Healthcare organizations looking to strengthen their employer brand can learn more in Employer Branding 101 for Healthcare Organizations.
Being transparent about what it’s actually like to work for your organization can help attract candidates who are a better fit from the beginning.
Retention and recruitment are closely connected.
Hiring someone who has the right credentials but isn’t a good fit for the role, schedule, or organization can result in turnover later.
That means employers should look beyond qualifications and consider experience, skills, expectations, and overall fit during the hiring process.
Technology can also make this process more efficient. MedicalStaff AI helps employers screen healthcare candidates faster, allowing organizations to spend less time manually reviewing candidates and more time connecting with qualified professionals.
Better hiring decisions can ultimately contribute to better retention.
One of the simplest retention strategies is also one of the most overlooked: ask employees what keeps them there.
Don’t wait until an exit interview.
Conduct regular “stay interviews” and ask:
These conversations can help employers identify problems before they turn into resignations.
Employee retention isn’t solved by increasing salaries or offering a wellness program.
The strongest retention strategies combine competitive compensation, flexibility, career development, supportive leadership, recognition, manageable workloads, and a positive workplace culture.
Most importantly, organizations need to listen to their employees and act on what they hear.
Healthcare professionals have choices. Employers that create an environment where people feel valued, supported, and able to grow will have a better chance of keeping experienced talent.
The goal isn’t simply to hire healthcare professionals.
It’s to create a workplace where the right healthcare professionals want to stay.