What Is a Stay Interview in Nursing? Facility Guide and FAQ

Hiring and retaining skilled nursing staff is crucial for delivering high quality care. But with the average registered nurse (RN) turnover rate standing at nearly 22%, it’s clear that better measures are needed to support nursing professionals in their roles. A stay interview can be a valuable way to unpack and prevent potential causes of turnover among your own staff. But, what is a stay interview and how do you go about conducting one?

If you’re a facility leader looking to implement this helpful feedback tool, this article is for you. We’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions about stay interviews and provide tips on how to conduct them at your facility.

What Is a Stay Interview? Purpose and Overview

A stay interview is a meeting between a manager and employee that’s aimed at understanding what’s making an employee stay at an organization and what might cause them to leave. The purpose of these interviews is to get ahead of any potential issues before they lead to turnover. Through this process, managers are able to learn about the first-hand experiences of their staff, which then informs actions that can be taken to improve retention.

What Is a Stay Interview’s Relevance to Healthcare Facilities?

Healthcare is an industry where turnover rates are monumentally high. Because of this, many floor managers conduct stay interviews to improve retention among their nurses. So, how exactly does a one-on-one meeting lead to better retention? Below are some of the proven benefits of conducting stay interviews:

• Improves Nurse Satisfaction: Engaging nurses in important conversations makes them feel more heard and valued. Stay interviews showcase strong leadership and a commitment to supporting staff, which in turn, leads to increased nurse satisfaction.
• Strengthens Relationships: Stay interviews allow for more open, collaborative, and meaningful communication. This fosters a positive work environment and increases trust between nursing staff and their leaders.
• Proactively Addresses Issues: Stay interviews allow for nurses to share their individualized needs and concerns. Through in-depth, one-on-one conversations, leaders can stay on top of what’s affecting their staff before major issues arise.
• Informs Influential Policies: Stay interviews allow leaders to gain valuable insights that might otherwise never come to light. This improves shared-decision making and strengthens institutional policies through nurse-driven input.

What Are Examples of Stay Interview Questions for Nurses?

Fundamentally, stay interviews should focus on the employee experience. It’s important to ask thoughtful and open-ended questions that explore both reasons to stay and reasons to leave. To help you get a sense of how stay interviews can be used in practice, we’ll break down two stay interview examples, along with additional follow up questions, below.

Example 1: If you were contacted by a prospective applicant who wanted to learn more about our unit, what reasons would you give them to work here?

This is an example of a question exploring a nurse’s reasons to stay. Beyond simply asking what they like about their job, this provides a more personalized scenario that encourages the nurse to really reflect on the positive aspects of their work environment.

What to listen for:

• Support modalities, team dynamics, and cultural factors that facilitate the nurse’s work
• Development opportunities that contribute to fulfillment and continuous growth
• Tools, resources, or benefits that contribute to work-life balance and satisfaction

Potential follow-up questions:

• What aspects of our work environment help you deliver your best care?
• What makes you feel valued and appreciated for the work that you do?
• What is your favorite thing about working with your current team and supervisors?

Example 2: In the past year, have there been times that you lacked the tools, resources, or support needed to deliver proper care? If so, can you share what might have helped you in those moments?

This is an example of a question exploring potential factors that might influence nurses to leave. This question prompts them to think back to what barriers or issues have impacted their day-to-day work. It also invites the nurse to share more specific examples of what could help address these issues.

What to listen for:

• Resource shortages or aspects of management that negatively impact the nurse
• Work factors that contribute to feelings of frustration, stress, or burnout
• Actionable changes that could address issues and improve the nurse’s experience

Potential follow-up questions:

• How have management and your team responded to these recent challenges?
• Have any of these challenges that you’ve faced affect your views on working here?
• Have your colleagues faced similar issues and challenges?

How Do You Conduct a Stay Interview? 3 Tips for Leaders

Beyond asking, what is a stay interview? You’re likely wondering how to conduct one. Here are three practical tips to help you get the most out of a stay interview with your nurses:

1. Schedule Meetings in a Comfortable and Private Setting

Invite your nurses to talk in a private location so that they can share their thoughts more openly. Be clear that the interview will remain confidential and the information they share will not be used against them. Additionally, make sure to schedule the interview at a convenient time that doesn’t add to the stress of their workload.

2. Ask Open-Ended Questions and Actively Listen

Stay interviews are an opportunity for your staff to relay as many thoughts as they’re comfortable sharing. Prepare thought-provoking questions that allow staff to candidly reflect on their experiences. Give them time and space, and make sure you’re actively listening to what they’re saying, rather than trying to fit your own thoughts in.

3. Maintain a Continuous Feedback Loop

Remember that the purpose of stay interviews is to inform actions that can help improve retention. Once you gather feedback from your nurses, act on it in a timely manner and keep your nurses in the loop. If they’ve contributed to positive changes, acknowledge and celebrate their contributions. Additionally, if some things still need improvement, make sure you continue to gather feedback from your staff to make necessary refinements.

Keep Your Nursing Staff Satisfied in Their Roles

Learning how to answer the question, What is a stay interview? is an important step toward improving nurse satisfaction. Looking for ways to translate staff feedback into action? Get practical, nurse-written management tips and insights through IntelyCare’s free newsletter.