Revista de Enfermagem e Cuidados com o Paciente

An Evaluation of Nurses Retention Strategies used by the Botswana Health Sector

Theophilus Tebetso Tshukudu

Abstract
This paper evaluates the strategies used to retain qualified nurses in the Botswana Health Sector. The purpose of this paper was to gain insight into the problem of nurse retention in the hospital setting. The goal was to find ways to empower nurses and create a better workplace. By creating a better work environment, hospitals may be able to retain more of their nurses. Retention would cut the cost of replacing nurses and assist hospitals with the ongoing nurse shortage. This paper has offered strategies that may provide guidance into reducing the turnover rate that exists among nurses in many hospitals across the country. The methodology of adapted for this paper is qualitative approach through the use of secondary data obtained from books journals, internet source and many others. According to the literature, management has not paid attention to issues of training, motivation, retention, low salary, lack of promotion, bad working conditions nor job security amongst nurses which led to high staff turnover. For the health sector to realize its primary objective, effective human resource management practices such as proper retention of staff must be adhered to by both government and private sector for the quality health provision endeavored by all.