Changing New Graduate Nurse Profiles and Retention Recommendations for Nurse Leaders

OBJECTIVE: This study compares and contrasts new graduate nurse attributes and perceptions using findings from a 2010 study and a recent analysis of new graduate nurses participating in the same residency program. BACKGROUND: As millennials saturate the healthcare work environment, their unique views and needs will influence the evolution of new graduate nurse residencies. METHODS: This study used previously reported data on new graduate nurses between 1999 and 2009 and compared it with a secondary analysis of data collected on new graduate nurses between 2011 and 2016. RESULTS: This study provides evidence that millennial new graduate nurses' levels of commitment and satisfaction do not moderate turnover intentions in the 1st 2 years of practice as they did in the previous group of new graduate nurses. CONCLUSIONS: Job embeddedness, a construct that measures the likelihood of whether a person is going to stay, may be a better measurement among new graduate nurses than commitment or satisfaction because millennials, a generation that is predominant in current new graduate nurses, are more engaged than loyal.