Unlocking loyalty: Nurse retention in healthcare - ACHSM Asia-Pacific Health Leadership Congress in Darwin, 2025

Abstract

Issues with nurse retention in healthcare were magnified through and beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, but they are not new, with the shortages being described as an almost-universal challenge. [1] In Australia, health workforce data shows sustained growth, but demand is outstripping supply, particularly in acute, aged care, and regional services.[2] The result is a nursing workforce that is under sustained pressure, with high rates of intent to leave and churn across hospitals.

This article explores nurse retention through a different lens, aggregating insight from nurse experience surveys across Australian healthcare organisations. Insync is an Australian research and advisory company that specialises in employee, patient, and stakeholder surveys. Insync’s dedicated health team partners with public and private hospitals, primary health services, and aged care providers to measure workforce experience, culture, and engagement. De-identified data from these surveys is aggregated across clients for benchmarking purposes, and reported at a level that protects individuals, teams, and organisations. Insync does not disclose organisation-identifiable results without explicit approval, and all analysis for this article is based on aggregated, de-identified data from healthcare organisations that understand and agree to Insync retaining their de-identified data for research and benchmarking purposes.