Improving working conditions and introducing incentives in four key areas have been suggested as ways to retain healthcare professionals in hospitals, according to the EU-funded METEOR Project.
Published in the journal Qualitative Health Research, the findings highlight professional and personal support, education, financial incentives and regulatory measures as the main factors that healthcare organisations should focus on to retain their staff, in addition to improving working conditions.
The study involved a series of eight online co-creation workshops and four Delphi sessions surveying nurses and clinicians at eight European hospitals in four countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland.
A thematic analysis was conducted, resulting in multiple interventions that were clustered into the four pre-defined themes.
Interviewees in all four countries emphasised the importance of leadership training, interdisciplinary teamwork and support for the non-clinical workload as key factors that could improve their working conditions.
Anke Boone, a researcher at the Centre for Environment and Health at KU Leuven and a co-author of the METEOR study, said: ‘In our workshops, healthcare professionals told us that personal support is key to enhancing job satisfaction. It also creates resilience against workplace stressors, mainly by knitting teams together more strongly.’
Incentives for staff retention
The professional and personal support interventions highlighted in the study to retain staff included regular interprofessional team meetings, leadership training programs, self-scheduling and sabbaticals, support for administrative and non-clinical work, and the provision of psychological counselling.
When it came to education, interviewees from all countries stressed the need for continuous professional development opportunities, including onboarding and mentorship programmes. They also advocated for a hospital-based development budget, allocated to each employee, as part of a comprehensive personal development plan.
Financial incentives included the provision of competitive salaries, adequate spending on infrastructure, extra benefits such as secure, permanent employment contracts.
However, as Olivia Lavreysen, a researcher at the Centre for Environment and Health at KU Leuven and a co-author of the METEOR study, pointed out, ‘many healthcare professionals say they’re willing to take a pay cut if it would mean an improvement in their current working conditions. That clearly shows that job quality and the level of support from healthcare organisations is more important than money.’
Desired regulatory measures addressed the need for harmonised legislation spanning local, national and international levels, fixed healthcare worker-to-patient ratios, and effective workload monitoring tools.
Interviewees hoped that such measures would alleviate workload pressures, support retention and ensure sustainable staffing levels, which are crucial for mitigating burnout and fostering professional satisfaction.
No one-sized-fits-all approach
The authors concluded that while there is no one-size-fits-all approach to workforce retention, tailoring these interventions to address pressures within an organisation is encouraged.
Co-author Lode Godderis, professor at the Centre for Environment and Health at KU Leuven, added: ‘Healthcare providers need to look closely into their organisations and listen to employees to address their needs.’
Earlier METEOR findings revealed that 9% of doctors and nearly 14% of nurses intend to leave their professions, citing low job satisfaction, growing depersonalisation and emotional exhaustion as primary factors.
