Impact of Deployment on Nursing Retention

The effective retention of adequate numbers of the best and brightest nursing personnel is critical to our nation's defense. This study addresses the TSNRP focus area "Recruitment and Retention of the Work Force - Research designed to identify factors associated with retention of nursing personnel in the military health care system. The aims of this study are to develop an instrument to measure the positive and negative impacts of deployment on military nursing personnel and to identify recommendations for policy changes and incentives; use a large-scale survey to describe the positive and negative impacts of deployment and recommendations for policy changes and incentives; model the interrelationships of positive and negative impact factors on military nursing career intent; and to synthesize evidence and recommendations for policy changes and incentives to improve retention of military nursing personnel.

tThis study will contribute to collaboration between military nurse researchers and their academic colleagues and facilitate mentorship for junior military nurses. These aims will be accomplished through development and execution of an instrument to survey military nursing officers and enlisted nursing personnel in the Air Force. On the basis of findings, a profile of the positive and negative impacts of deployment on military nursing personnel and recommendations for policy changes and incentives will be identified. The findings of this study will contribute to the evidence base for retention by delineating the outcomes of deployment that may mitigate the likelihood of intent to stay in the military, as well as identify strategies that may be adopted by policymakers to augment the positive outcomes of deployment. The long-term goal of this research is to provide evidence for key factors that influence the stability of the military nursing corps, in order that evidence based policy decisions related to deployments, pay incentives, individual and family support can be made.

Final report is available on NTRL: https://ntrl.ntis.gov/NTRL/dashboard/searchResults/titleDetail/PB2013101738.xhtml