Will they stay? A survey of nursing bridging students’ intentions for retention in long-term and home and community care sectors

BACKGROUND: Retention of nurses in long-term care (LTC) and home and community care (HCC) remains critical; however, less is known about factors that influence nurses' intentions to remain in these sectors. Nursing bridging students represent an important emerging workforce as they transition into new nursing roles within these sectors. PURPOSE: This study explored differentiating characteristics of nursing bridging students' retention intentions in LTC and HCC. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional pilot study employed a survey co-designed with nursing knowledge users was distributed by a provincial nursing association to nurse bridging education students with a return-of-service commitment in LTC or HCC. Respondents rated their likelihood of remaining in the sector over 3, 5, and 10 years. Validated measures assessed psychological empowerment, work engagement, career commitment, resilience, burnout, and prosocial motivation. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted separately for Practical Nurse (PN) and Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) bridging students. DISCUSSION: In total, 174 respondents were included. Among PN students, higher age (p = .01) and personal accomplishment (p < .05) predicted greater intention to stay. Income predicted short-term retention intentions at 3 years (p = .01) only. Among BScN bridging students, work engagement predicted retention intentions at 3, 5, and 10 years (p < .05). Previous sector experience predicted short-term intentions at 3 years (p = .03), while older age predicted longer-term intentions at 5 and 10 years (p < .05). CONCLUSION: Predictors of retention intentions differed by bridging pathway and timeline. Retention strategies should be tailored to educational pathway and work experiences, fostering personal accomplishment and work engagement.