Background

Little is known about how the role of the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) specialist (ES) impacts intensive care unit (ICU) staff retention. Our facility allows staff ICU registered nurses (RNs) and respiratory therapists (RTs) to dual in the role of ES.

Aim

The aim of this project was to identify any contributing factors the role of the ES may have on ICU staff retention.

Methods

A retrospective review of Human Resource (HR) records of all ICU RNs and RTs was conducted and compared those who held the concurrent role of ES against those who did not, for length of tenure. We also surveyed 17 qualifying ES to identify any major factors that contribute to their retention.

Results

A total of 242 employees, 206 (85.1%) ICU RNs and 36 (14.9%) RTs’ records were analysed, 13 (6.3%) were ES ICU RNs, and 193 (93.7%) non-ES ICU RNs. Similarly, 4 (11.1%) were ES RTs, and 32 (88.9%) non-ES RTs. The ES ICU RNs had a significantly longer length of tenure 6.11 [4.49–8.05] compared to non-ES ICU RNS at 2.34 [1.27–4.30] years (p < .001). Likewise, the ES RTs’ 13.47 [8.23–21.84] years exceeded the tenure of non-ES RTs at 3.85 [1.37–10.67] years (p = .03).

The ES survey identified four key factors of the ES role that positively contribute to staff retention: financial incentives, advanced skill set, team cohesion and the rarity of opportunity.

Conclusion

This project found that the role of the ES may uniquely positively impact the retention of ICU RNs and RTs.