A study on the attrition of nurses in a multi specialty hospital at Chennai

Attrition is defined as the “Loss of a material or resource due to obsolescence or spoilage” Attrition in human resources refers to the gradual loss of employees over time. In general, relatively high attrition is problematic for companies. Human Resource professionals often assume a leadership role in designing company compensation programs; work culture and motivation systems that help the organization retain top employees. The attrition may be either voluntary or involuntary, though employer-initiated events such as layoffs are not typically included in the definition. Each industry has its own standards for acceptable attrition rates, and these rates can also differ between skilled and unskilled positions. Due to the expenses associated with training new employees, any type of employee attrition is typically seen to have a monetary cost. It is also possible for a company to use employee attrition to its benefit in some circumstances, such as relying on it to control labor costs without issuing mass layoffs. Nurses in most healthcare organizations have some of the highest levels of direct patient contact of any employees. As a result, they play a pivotal role in the financial performance of these companies. The financial cost of losing a single nurse has been calculated to equal about twice the nurse’s annual salary. Losing these critical employees negatively impacts the bottom line of healthcare organizations in a variety of ways.