Building a Workforce That Stays: New Course Tackles Employee Retention in Healthcare
By Dana BarbutoThe key to retention is more than just salary—engagement and growth opportunities are vital.
Years ago, in a previous leadership role, Carol Stuckey faced a tough conversation with a high-performing employee who had decided to leave his job. Instead of accepting the resignation, Stuckey asked, “What would make you stay?” The employee admitted he felt stuck in his role but also expressed hopes for professional growth.
“I worked with him to map out a career development plan, and not only did he stay—he became one of our most valuable team members,” recalled Stuckey, now Dean of the School of Professional Studies at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS). “That experience showed me the power of small, intentional actions and sparked my curiosity about retention strategies. How can we move from reacting to turnover to preventing it altogether?”
Stuckey and her colleagues are bringing those lessons to healthcare and life sciences leaders through a new online course at MCPHS, Employee Retention for Health & Life Sciences Leaders: Building a Holistic Strategy to Keep Talent Engaged. She developed the course with Dayna Catropa, MEd, an adjunct faculty member in the School of Professional Studies, and Erin Beloin, MBA, a clinical manager with extensive experience. The course aims to address one of the sector’s biggest challenges: high employee turnover.
“This course isn’t just about keeping people—it’s about creating workplaces where people want to stay and grow,” Catropa said.
The High Cost of Turnover
The statistics are sobering. The average cost of turnover for a bedside registered nurse is $56,300, with hospitals losing an estimated $3.9 to $5.8 million annually, according to the 2024 NSI National Healthcare Retention & RN Staffing Report.
Similar challenges affect the life sciences sector. EPM Scientific’s 2023 Life Sciences Survey revealed that more than 40% of life sciences professionals are seeking new roles, with turnover rates in life sciences and medical devices reaching 20.6%. These figures highlight the pervasive issue of talent retention in high-demand industries, Stuckey said.
While hospital turnover rates slightly decreased to 20.7% in 2024, they remain elevated. Over the past five years, hospitals have replaced 106.6% of their staff, with voluntary resignations accounting for 95.4% of separations. Each departure leaves a ripple effect, impacting team morale, patient care, and organizational efficiency.
“Turnover in healthcare isn’t just costly—it’s destabilizing,” explained Erin Beloin, a clinical manager and one of the course instructors. “When staff leave, it impacts patient care, strains resources, and burns out the team members who remain.”
Retention efforts are particularly critical in Massachusetts, where the biopharma industry is thriving. The state’s life sciences workforce topped 140,000 in 2023, and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council projects an additional 38,000 net new jobs over the next decade. MassBio’s latest industry snapshot revealed that the state added 3,000 net new jobs in biopharma last year, accounting for 17% of all job growth in the state. However, this growth also brings challenges.
“In Massachusetts, retention challenges may arise from increased competition for talent,” Stuckey said, adding that the state’s dynamic industry creates abundant opportunities for employees, but also intensifies the pressure on employers to foster engaging and supportive workplaces that motivate employees to stay.
"Healthcare and life sciences are incredibly valuable fields, but they can also be highly demanding and intensive. Anything we can do to move the needle to improve employee satisfaction and retention over time will ultimately make a significant impact on an organization."
Erin Beloin | Director of Program Management
Proactive Strategies for Retention
The MCPHS course takes a comprehensive approach to retention, equipping leaders with practical tools to engage employees and address the root causes of turnover. A standout strategy in the curriculum is the use of “stay interviews,” which Catropa describes as a “game-changer.”
“These interviews shift the focus from reacting to turnover to proactively building trust and engagement before an employee considers leaving,” she said.
Stuckey also emphasizes practical strategies that have immediate impact. For example, one of the most effective ways to retain an employee is to create time in their schedule for professional development and process improvement. “I’ve seen lab operations managers get frustrated because they’re pulled in so many directions juggling deadlines and maintenance duties that they never have a chance to step back and think about their career or ways to improve their work,” she said. “Building protected time into their schedule, whether for a personal project or to brainstorm solutions to improve processes, can make all the difference.”
Real World Results
Designed for leaders across clinics, hospitals, global pharmaceutical and biotech firms, and other healthcare settings, the course combines self-paced modules with live sessions and real-world case studies —including one by Catropa that examines how a global pharmaceutical company tackled turnover in a fast-paced environment, showing how investing in employee retention can improve organizational success. A key lesson, she said, is the importance of asking employees what they need and addressing those needs to boost satisfaction.
The program also focuses on practical solutions for leaders at all levels, such as personalized retention plans. These toolkits empower leaders to address team-specific challenges with actionable, low-cost strategies.
“The retention plan meets leaders where they are,” Beloin said. “It’s designed for micro-level impact, not just top-down solutions. For instance, a team leader could implement informal one-on-one check-ins with team members. These check-ins require no extra budget but are highly effective for building trust and understanding individual motivations.”
Leaders can immediately develop personalized strategies; a concept Stuckey captures succinctly: “The idea is to take what you learn on Monday and start applying it on Tuesday.”
Strategies to Boost Employee Retention
While every organization is different, Erin Beloin, one of the course instructors, highlights several strategies that can be universally applied to help retain employees.
Create clear pathways for advancement by offering leadership tracks, funding for certifications, or dedicated time for professional development. Even small steps toward career growth can keep employees engaged.
When meaningful work and a sense of purpose drive people, it's important to highlight the impact they’ve made. Taking the time to say, ‘This is how your work has made a difference—in our team or in someone's life’—can be incredibly motivating.
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