Stay Interviews for Nurses: Ask Why They Stay Before They Tell You Why They Left
Exit interviews are an autopsy. Stay interviews are a check-up.
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By the time a nurse sits down for an exit interview, the decision is made. A stay interview flips the timing: a short, informal one-on-one with nurses who are still here, asking what keeps them, what might make them leave, and what one thing you could change.
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There's no magic script, and we won't pretend there's a precise national statistic proving stay interviews alone cut turnover. What's well documented is that stress, burnout, workload and understaffing are the top reasons nurses give for planning to leave (NCSBN, 2024 National Nursing Workforce Study, ncsbn.org/news/ncsbn-research-highlights-small-steps-toward-). Stay interviews surface those issues on your unit while you can still act.
Practical takeaways:
- Keep it to 15–20 minutes, one-on-one, and away from performance reviews.
- Ask five questions: What do you look forward to at work? What frustrates you? What would make you leave? What would make your job better? What can I do differently?
- Take notes, follow up within two weeks, and say what you can and can't change.
- Start with experienced nurses and first-year nurses, the two groups most at risk.
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Sources: NCSBN (2025), link above