A qualitative study exploring the influence of a talent management initiative on registered nurses' retention intentions.

AIM: To explore the influence of a talent management scheme in an English National Health Service (NHS) Trust on registered nurses' retention intentions.

BACKGROUND: The retention of nurses is a global challenge and talent management initiatives can play a role in improving retention. Talent management in its broadest sense is a way in which an organisation recruits and retains the workforce that it needs to optimise the services it delivers.

METHODS: In this qualitative study, eight in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with registered nurses who had participated in a talent management initiative, at an English acute NHS Trust. Data was collected in July 2019.

RESULTS: The talent management initiative influenced positive retention intentions. Retention of nurses was facilitated by the creation of networks and networking.

CONCLUSION: Networks and networking can be viewed as a form of social capital, which was a facilitating factor for positive retention intentions for nurses.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Talent management initiatives for nurses should be developed and directed to include the building of networks and networking to enable development of social capital. Although this talent management scheme is within the NHS, the issue of nursing retention is global. Application of learning from this paper to other healthcare systems is possible.