Date of Conferral

2-24-2025

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Nursing

Advisor

Janice Long

Abstract

The United States is currently experiencing a nurse staffing crisis that is significantly impacting the medical-surgical (MS) nursing workforce. With MS nurses providing the most care for inpatient beds, hospital administrators must identify strategies that support MS nurse retention to preserve access to care for patients and support patient safety. The purpose of this study, guided by the complex adaptive systems theory, was to understand the relationship between teamwork, age, years of experience, and MS nurses’ intentions to stay in their roles in acute care hospitals. MS nurses were recruited via invitations from the chief nursing officer of a system or social media recruitment flyer. The final sample consisted of 82 MS nurses with at least 6 months of experience who responded to questions from the Nursing Teamwork Survey and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire. Likert scale responses were analyzed quantitatively using linear and multiple regression analyses. The findings of this cross-sectional survey revealed a statistically significant relationship, with a medium effect, between teamwork (R2 = 0.22, p < 0.001), mature age (R2 = 0.32, p = 0.003), and MS nurses’ intentions to stay in their acute care roles in a hospital. Future research using a longitudinal design and a larger sample size is recommended. The findings of this study may raise awareness among MS administrators and nurse leaders to develop strategies that promote teamwork in acute care hospital MS nursing staff and promote research on the impact of teamwork and age on MS nurses’ intentions to stay in their roles in acute care hospitals, which results in increase in nursing staffing and impacts positive social change.

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