Mandatory internal mobility in French hospitals: the results of imposed management practices.

AIM: To describe the impact of a mandatory internal mobility policy on nurses working in French state-funded health establishments.

BACKGROUND: Public hospitals in France rely on the internal mobility of nursing staff to respond to organisational needs, to reduce costs and to increase productivity. However, there is very little data on the impact of such management practices on the nurses themselves.

METHOD: A cross-sectional study, including 3077 nurses from 35 hospitals in the region of Paris, was conducted. Data were collected using a validated self-assessment questionnaire.

RESULTS: Forty per cent of French nurses are required to work in different units. This mobility differs according to individual characteristics [age (P = 0.04), length of service (P = 0.017)] and type of environment [hospital (P < 0.0001), specialty (P < 0.0001)].

CONCLUSION: We can distinguish two types of approaches for implementing a mandatory staff nurse mobility policy. The first is an event that is regular, planned and lasts for several days. The second is an event that is irregular, short and organised the day before or the day of the change. Overall, while nurses are dissatisfied with all types of mandatory unit changes, this dissatisfaction is primarily a result of the irregular mobility events.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: This study demonstrates the importance of implementing a planned inter-unit mobility event and proposes recommendations for this type of implementation.