Background Almost a third of the workforce at the North London Hospice is made up of registered nurses, a workforce that is equally susceptible to the issues surrounding nurse recruitment and retention in the UK (Shembavnekar, Buchan, Bazeer, et al. NHS workforce projections 2022. The Health Foundation; 2022). As part of the People Strategy, retention of nurses was identified as a priority, raising the questions, why are the nurses leaving, what would entice them to stay, and would access to learning and development opportunities have any impact on a nurse’s decision to remain or leave the organisation?

Aim To undertake research to identify factors that aid or would likely aid nurse retention at North London Hospice and to provide recommendations to support future nurse recruitment and retention.

Methods A review of existing literature and hospice data on retention was undertaken. A questionnaire was designed based on the findings to investigate registered nurses’ attitudes and opinions on the factors that would encourage them to remain employed by the hospice. The questionnaire was anonymous to encourage participation (Kang, Hwang. J Res Pub Ethics. 2023:4:1–7), and was distributed to all nurses within the organisation.

Results Questionnaire response rate was high at 77% (Holtom, Baruch, Aguinis, et al. Human Relations. 2022;75(8):1560–1584) and identified a number of themes likely to aid nurse retention. Although development opportunities through learning were identified as a positive factor of retention, salary and benefits, improved wellbeing and stronger leadership were valued higher by the respondents.

Conclusion From this research several recommendations were made including the development of a nurse career pathway and education framework, coaching and mentoring opportunities and leadership training. All of which are now being implemented as a result of the research.