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An exit survey was returned by a sample of 127 respondents in fully compensated positions who left the EMS profession, most within 12 months prior to filling out the exit survey. A very high percentage continued to work after leaving EMS. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each of 17 items in affecting their decision to leave EMS. A higher than anticipated response to a "not applicable" response choice affected the usability of 8 of these items. Nine of the 17 items had at least 65 useable responses and were used for further analysis. Within these 9, stress/burnout and lack of job challenges had the highest importance in affecting the decision to leave EMS, while desire for better pay and benefits had the lowest importance. Desire for career change was positively related to life satisfaction after leaving EMS and negatively related to likelihood of returning to EMS. Stress/burnout was positively related to life satisfaction after leaving EMS. Study limitations and future research issues are briefly discussed. J Allied Health 2011; 40(2):e29-e32.
RETENTION is an on-going important issue for the emergency medical services (EMS) work force.1 The demand for additional EMS workers is expected to increase in the future. The Bureau of Labor Statistics2 (BLS) projects a need for an additional 62,000 EMTs and paramedics in the next decade to fill new jobs and replace workers who leave the profession. Several EMS studies have identified concerns about workforce turnover,1,3 and there has been recent research on actual EMS turnover rates.4 Patterson et al.4 studied turnover and the cost of turnover by following a convenience sample of 40 EMS agencies over a six-month period. Results showed a lower-than-expected overall weighed mean annual job turnover rate of 10.7%, with slight variations depending on staff mix, i.e., all-paid, 10.2%, mixed, 12.3% and all-volunteer, 12.4%. Patterson et al.4 measured job turnover rate by combining voluntary quits and involuntary terminations. It is not known if the job leavers also left the EMS profession.
Rhodes and Doering5 have presented a comprehensive model of voluntary occupational change which considers the impact of personal-related (e.g., family and health-related), organizational-related (e.g., job satisfaction, downsizing), and occupational-related (e.g., occupational satisfaction) on the decision to change one's occupation/profession. The current study is unique in...