Nursing Leaders' Grip to Retain Nurses in Nursing Homes

The challenge of retaining nurses in Norwegian municipalities’ nursing homes relates to their performing work tasks, often with low staffing, and at the same time, patients living there commonly have complex nursing needs. This chapter assumes that formal nursing leaders in hierarchical positions nearest to nurses, or first-line leaders, consider taking grips or strategies to retain nurses in their positions in nursing homes. This chapter explores what grips they utilize by drawing on empirical examples demonstrating different grips taken: fostering a professional nursing community, enhancing the collegial community, promoting flexibility in daily work, and serving as exemplary role models. With the help of notions from transformational leadership used, the chapter argues that the grips utilized by the nursing leaders can be perceived as an expression of practicing suitable leadership strategies to retain nurses in their positions. Their grips can be understood as expressions of leadership strategies that incorporate idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. However, the grips taken are not necessarily sufficient or decisive to retain nurses in their positions in nursing homes.