DBM study shows that employee attrition and retention

Pharmacists, technologists/radiologists, educators/trainers, and therapists are leaving hospitals in droves. In fact, the turnover rate among these workers tops 20 percent, according to a study conducted by DBM, a global human resource consulting firm.

The DBM study, "Hospital Attrition Benchmark Study 2002," was conducted with 44 medical and surgical hospitals in the U.S. to obtain voluntary attrition and retention benchmarking data for fiscal year 2001. As reported by the UPI, the extreme urgency and dramatic challenges hospitals face was also evident in a University of Pennsylvania survey showing that one in four nurses intend to quit within the next year.

"The projected workforce shortages, combined with an increased demand for healthcare services, is already at a crisis level," said Joan Luciano, Ph.D., author of the study. "Hospitals are beginning to implement retention strategies, but this will be an ongoing priority as the need for an adequate number of healthcare workers increases."

Other key findings of the DBM study include:

* The total attrition rates for male and female employees were close with an average male rate of 15.2 percent versus a female rate of 14.6 percent

* The highest regional attrition rate in the country occurred in the Southeast where the attrition rate for males was 28.2 percent and the female rate was 24.3 percent

* The lowest attrition rate in the country occurred in the Great Lakes region where the female rate was 10.5 percent and the male rate was 11.7 percent

The "Hospital Attrition Benchmark Study 2002" is available from DBM's Retention Services Practice.