Supporting Gen Y and Z: what it takes to retain newly qualified nurses

How a team of senior nurses is helping newer recruits thrive – and improving retention

• Newly qualified nurses at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust can access support from the senior intern team, a group of experienced nurses
• The programme combines coaching and pastoral support, and has boosted recruitment and retention rates at the trust
• The team uses the broad characteristics of each generation to predict the support that new nurses may need, as well as those new to managerial posts

Before introducing its senior intern programme in 2017, Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust was losing a quarter of newly qualified nurses (NQNs) within a year of recruiting them.

The programme, which started with senior interns Beverley Sawer, Anne Honey and Maxine Ainah, aims to prevent new recruits becoming disillusioned and