Nursing Workforce: Retainment Challenges and Solutions

Motivation Paper The need for quality nurses nationwide continues to be a topic of hot debate in the healthcare field. As Americans continue to age and as the elderly population increases due to medical advancements, the need to sustain and retain the nursing workforce will be an area that is intently watched and regulated. According to the Department of Health & Human Services (2013), there was a 24.1% registered nurse (RN) workforce growth in the 2000s. None-the-less, the Bureau of Labor (2014), projects that sixteen states are going to experience an RN shortage by 2025 and it was stated that,
Supply and demand will continue to be affected by numerous factors including population growth and the aging of the nation’s population, overall

Nurses are confronted with a multitude of hardships, emotional stressors, and physical demands which can lead to issues such as burn out, compassion fatigue, and secondary traumatic stress disorder, just to name a few. Additionally, due to shortages, nurses often must pick up extra shifts, stay late, or come in early. Hospitals and other agencies are often met with the question of, “What motivates a bedside or middle management nurse?” By understanding and examining McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory, can hospitals uncover what truly motivates a nurse and providing nurses with incentives is not a new concept, but does money really talk? These are the questions that will be answered throughout this

In the 1940s Abraham Maslow created his famous theory of needs and set the groundwork for David McClelland who in 1961 launched his book, “The Achieving Society” (Mind Tools, n.d.). McClelland’s Acquired Needs Theory explores the thought that “needs are acquired throughout life…needs are not innate, but are learned or developed as a result of one’s life experiences” (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2007, p.27). In this theory are three types of needs: need for achievement-desire for success, mastering tasks, and attaining goals; need for affiliation-desire for relationships and associations with others; and need for power-desire for responsibility, control, and authority (Buchbinder & Shanks, 2007). Therefore, management, hospitals, and organizations must determine what the needs of their employees are in order to properly motivate