Study: Higher turnover seen for nurses balancing work, school

Nurse leaders can take immediate steps to reduce turnover by adopting flexible scheduling policies, such as self-scheduling or nontraditional shift lengths, according to a Health Affairs study. Flexible schedules may appeal especially to nurses balancing work and other obligations such as child or elder care or school, the authors said. The study, based on an analysis of the 2022 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses, identified the reasons for actual, self-reported turnover among 8,953 frontline nurses. The researchers found an overall turnover rate of 28.7%, with nurses enrolled in school exhibiting higher turnover rates, likely due to the difficulty of balancing inflexible work schedules with academic work. Nurses who were dissatisfied with their primary positions also were more like to quit, the study found. (HealthDay article, 7/7/26)