Date of Conferral
5-26-2025
Date of Award
May 2025
Degree
Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.)
School
Health Services
Advisor
Eboni Green
Abstract
High nurse turnover rates in acute care hospitals negatively impact operations, increase turnover-related costs, and worsen organizational performance. Developing solutions for healthcare administrators to create environments supportive of evidence-based practice (EBP) can yield positive nurse outcomes, including reducing nurse turnover and increasing retention. This integrative review includes strategies to execute a system-wide environment supportive of EBP as an efficient strategy to reduce nurse turnover and increase retention in acute care hospitals. Using the advancing research and clinical practice through close collaboration (ARCC) model as a guiding framework and the Johns Hopkins evidence-based model as a tool to evaluate evidence, empirical and non-empirical literature published between 2019 and 2025 were analyzed for best practices to enhance nurse retention in acute care hospitals through an environment that nurtures EBP. Thematic analysis of 24 selected studies resulted in seven key themes and shared sub-themes: (a) evaluation of organizational preparedness for EBP, (b) supportive leadership and policies, (c) budgetary investment, (d) presence and development of EBP mentors, (e) education and training, (f) technology infrastructure, and (g) evaluation and continuous improvement. Recommendations include methods to advance an environment that supports EBP to enhance nurse retention and improve organizational performance. Healthcare administrators can use the results to create an EBP environment that reduces nurse turnover and enhances retention. This approach may lead to positive impacts related to social determinants, resulting in improved quality of care and better health outcomes for individuals and communities dependent on local acute care hospitals.
Recommended Citation
Funes, Vanessa Roxana, "Enhancing Nurse Retention in Acute Care Hospitals by Creating an Environment Supportive of Evidence-Based Practice" (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17859.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17859
