We can learn a great deal from nurse leaders. Aside from clinical and managerial skills, those in leadership positions have been around the industry for years. They can provide a great deal of insight and perspective into some of the most important issues facing nurses today. So, we asked them to do that. Last year, HCPro put together a survey about everything from preceptors and staff meetings to technology and why nurses are leaving their jobs. After nearly 1,500 complete responses, here are the results.

The survey was sent to nurse leaders from across the country. Small facilities, big facilities, city hospitals, and rural clinics all had their say regarding some key issues. The results should give new and experienced nurses some insight into today’s nursing environment:

• Why are nurses leaving their jobs? More than 40% of respondents said “not enough incentive/support for career advancement” was the main reason. More than 400 nurse leaders (28%) thought “inadequate guidance or poor precepting/mentoring” was to blame, while 17% said it was the difficult transition from nursing school to the real world. Lateral violence was also on the list at 12%.
• Some of the most interesting results came from the question on how nurses are trained to be nurse managers. As expected, assigned preceptors and mentors led the way at 46%, but 43% admitted that no formal training exists at their facility. Classroom training (26%) and E-learning (10%) also earned some votes.
• Continuing with the theme of training troubles, 61% of respondents said it was “somewhat difficult” to find preceptors at their facility. Only 28% said it wasn’t difficult at all.
• Most times, preceptors are selected by nurse leaders (69%), while volunteering happens only 18% of the time. Incentive is provided for preceptors only 6% of the time.
• In most cases, unit-based staff meetings are held once a month. Nearly 80% said that’s the way it’s done at their facility.
• At those meetings, the “unit’s progress in relation to departmental or organizational initiatives” is discussed 74% of the time. Six percent of respondents admitted that open forums were typically held, as they were too busy to plan ahead for the meeting.
• Lastly, with regard to technology, most respondents (49%) said they thought their facility was equal to the standards in healthcare today. Twenty-seven percent thought their facility was ahead of the curve, while 23% perceived themselves to be a little behind.