In an exit interview, a departing nurse describes the job and their reasons for leaving. Its usefulness depends on how the employer listens, handles information and responds to recurring concerns.
For an institutional example, University Hospitals Birmingham describes its exit interview as a discussion of departure reasons, work experience and suggestions for improvement. Its process allows alternatives to the line manager and explains how information will be shared. These are that employer's arrangements, not universal entitlements. UHB guidance
Clarify the process
Before the conversation, ask who will conduct it, whether participation is optional under the employer's policy and who can access the record.
If the concern involves the proposed interviewer, ask about an alternative. Do not assume that a conversation described as confidential is anonymous or inaccessible to relevant organizational staff.
An exit interview should not be the only route for urgent patient safety, discrimination or other serious concerns. Use the applicable reporting process when such concerns arise.
Prepare concrete observations
A nurse can organize feedback around the role as advertised, the actual work, support received and reasons influencing the departure.
Distinguish personal experience from what colleagues may have said. Describe specific events or patterns without including unnecessary patient identifiers.
Original questions for an interviewer include:
- Which expectations matched the job, and which did not?
- What made it easier or harder to provide the expected care?
- Which concern was raised previously, and what response followed?
- What should a new employee understand before joining this unit?
- Which improvement deserves attention first?
Avoid arguing with the departing employee or treating every departure as proof of poor commitment.
Separate learning from negotiation
The conversation may reveal something the organization could improve, but it should not become pressure to reverse a resignation.
If an employer proposes a change, identify it clearly as a separate discussion. A promised adjustment should come from someone authorized to make it and should have specific terms.
Preserve the employee's ability to provide useful feedback regardless of whether they would ever return.
Interpret the information responsibly
Record the number of departures and the number of interviews completed when summarizing findings. Several similar comments are a reason to investigate; they are not automatically an estimate of how all nurses feel.
Distinguish internal transfers, departures from the employer and exits from nursing when those categories are relevant. Avoid combining them into one unexplained turnover story.
NIOSH's wellbeing guidance calls for operational changes and two-way communication. Apply that principle by showing how themes receive review and an organizational response. NIOSH guide
Preserve useful follow-up
Assign responsibility for reviewing themes, record decisions and communicate appropriate findings to staff who remain. Keep individual personnel details protected through the employer's established process.
Compare themes from departing nurses with stay interviews before assuming the two groups want the same changes.
Related
stay interviews · nursing succession planning.
Sources
- Exit interviews: what to expect (accessed 2026-09-17) — University Hospitals Birmingham.
- Impact Wellbeing Guide (accessed 2026-09-17) — CDC/NIOSH.