Articles-Thought Leadership Solving the Retention Problem

Solving the
Retention Problem
Across the Care
Continuum
Stephen McClure
Contributing Writer
HealthStream
Staff retention has grown to be one of the most significant challenges across the care continuum,
affecting the entire healthcare industry. The growth in retention’s importance is due not only to the
increased size of the care population, but also from the more than 10-year low for unemployment
rates (4.3% for May 2017) and the possibility of rising minimum wages across the industry. This
growing industry is experiencing an influx of jobs and increase in benefits, making voluntary turnover
prevalent among those employees looking for more pay, less stressful work environments, and more
positive company culture. In addition, “It is not just the turnover of direct care staff that plagues this
profession—administrators and other managers churn as well” (Salela, 2017).