Mental Health: a focus on retention of healthcare workers

INTRODUCTION: Shortages of healthcare workers are an important challenge for European hospitals. High turnover rates are considered one of the major factors responsible for the outflow of healthcare workers. In the METEOR project, we focus on turnover intentions, job satisfaction and burnout as critical determinants for turnover among healthcare workers in four European countries (i.e. Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Poland). METHODS: The METEOR project included three types of data collection methods. First, we identified and analysed the existing determinants of job retention among healthcare workers from literature. Second, we collected data in eight European hospitals by conducting an online survey to assess turnover intentions related to the work climate, job satisfaction and burnout. Third, we organised 12 co-creation and consensus-building workshops with key stakeholders to collect qualitative data on job satisfaction and job retention. RESULTS: First, based on our survey, 17% of physicians and 9% of nurses intend to leave their hospital, while 9% of physicians and 13% of nurses intend to leave healthcare. Second, the determinants found in literature for job retention were categorized into six themes: personal characteristics, job demands, employment services, working conditions, work relationships, and organizational culture. The main determinants were job satisfaction, career development and work-life balance. Third, the workshops showed that nurses and physicians are highly engaged in their patient-work, but are drained by paperwork, an unhealthy work-life balance, a lack of teamwork, limited development opportunities and no appreciation from supervisors. CONCLUSIONS: The intermediate results of the METEOR project show that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to tackle the problem of job retention in healthcare. Initiatives to retain people in healthcare must respond to multiple factors, as they stay (or leave) for a variety of reasons.