"The Effects of Coaching on Nurse Turnover"

 

 

The shortage of personnel has been a ‘long-term’ problem in the nursing profession with no apparently identified solution. While some may have pointed to a lack of interest in the profession, the nursing profession remains one of the most admirable and competitive courses in academic institutions. This means that there are far more underlying factors to the nursing shortage than lack of trainees in the field or lack of interest in the profession. Based on reported research findings, more than 60 percent of newly registered nurses leave the profession by their second year in practice and some of the main reasons for quitting have been lack of managerial support for the nurses and unfavorable working conditions such as personnel strains. Senior nurses are also lost due to being worn out or loss of interest in the profession (Feldman, 2011).

This has cast doubts on the effectiveness of management’s role in orienting and coaching personnel, especially new recruits, into the work environment. As a result, personnel leaves the profession because they are not able to cope with the work environment. This research seeks to carry out an explorative review of nurses’ turnover.

Aim of the research

The aim of this research is to explore turnover rates in the profession and identify the relationship between nurses’ turnover rates and coaching. The research will rely on primary data and any available secondary data that relates to nurses' ratings on coaching and chances of mobility.

Research question

The study will seek to answer the question, “Is there a significant relationship between nurses’ turnover rate and coaching initiatives within course of duty?”

Hypothesis

The set of the hypothesis will therefore be

Null hypothesis:  There is no significant relationship between nurses’ mobility and coaching

Alternative hypothesis: There is a significant relationship between nurses’ mobility and coaching.

An understanding of the relationship between coaching and nurses' mobility will help in developing strategies towards retaining registered nurses in the profession. The wide scope of data collection through triangulation will on the other hand ensure the reliability of results and conclusion of the research.

The hypothesis is important because it will facilitate the evaluation of the research question to determine whether coaching that is offered to nurses has an impact on their probability of leaving the profession. The research issue, the relationship between nurses’ turnover and coaching is on the other hand important because it will help in evaluating coaching as a possible solution to nurse mobility and shortage. The research, therefore, has the potential of presenting a solution to the crisis in the nursing profession.

Research design

This section discusses the research approach and designs to be adopted. It defines the proposed approach together with its associated advantages and disadvantages. It also offers an overview of the design to be adopted and a comparison with alternative designs besides describing the procedure for the research study.

Research approach

The research will apply a quantitative approach in its methods. This is because the nature of data to be collected as well as the research question to be answered suits the quantitative approach. Quantitative research for example allows for the test of hypothesis besides evaluation of quantifiable variables.

The quantitative research approach has a number of advantages. It for example, when properly undertaken, guarantees the reliability of the results and hence conclusions. This is because of its application of statistical tools in analysis to express the true features of the collected data. The analysis in the quantitative approach is therefore free from manipulation based on the researcher’s attitudes and emotions. Another advantage of the quantitative research approach is that its results are inferential. This means that the results can be implied on the population. Based on sampling techniques that eliminate biases in selecting sample elements, the quantitative approach assumes a fair representation of the population. Consequently, its results are representative of the characteristics of the entire population. The approach’s major disadvantage however lies in its rigidity. All aspects of the approach are predetermined and allow little room for adjustments. Similarly, the quantitative research approach merely evaluates variables but does not develop solutions to the identified problems. Conclusions from the statistical analysis can however be used as a basis for ‘decision-making’ (Nykiel, 2007).

Design

The study intends to use ‘quasi-e