What is normal staff turnover for a nursery? Behind the scenes problems?

[Mojomarm]

DS is 15mths and has been at nursery for 4 days a week for past 6 months - he's doing really well and seems to enjoy himself so on the surface all seems great.

However I've started to get a little unsettled by some issues I've noticed that seem to be getting more and more frequent. Nursery Manager left about 5 months ago (with stress I think) and they haven't got a permanent replacement yet (the temp manager is lovely but seems a bit stressed). There also seems to have been a LOT of new faces coming and going in relation to nursery nurses. DS managed to keep the same key worker until she left last week (change of career) but his new KW has been there about 6 weeks, and the other main NN for the baby room only started in Feb. There have also been at least 4 others in his room alone since he's been there that have been and gone. I know the pay isn't brilliant for NN's for the work they must put in, but I was wondering whether it's a normal for nurseries to have a fairly high turnover of staff purely because that's the nature of the childcare industry? The staff themselves all seem to have been diligent so no complaints there - it'd just been nice to see some faces stay on a bit longer.

Other things that have cropped up are last month the loo was broken and took the best part of 3 weeks to get fixed (there's an adjacent play centre that was used for toilet 'needs') and over the past fortnight, the safety lock on the door to prevent anyone coming or going without buzzer access doesn't always work so the main entrance is open to anyone - have reported this about 3 times to different staff but nothing seems to have been done - even putting a sign on the door to say 'Make Sure The Door Is Fully Closed' would be a start! I also managed not to be charged for December & January (but still paid up obvs.) - how can that get missed?! Given the other stuff that I have spotted happening, I can't help but wonder if there are more serious issues going on behind the scenes. Nursery is officially Outstanding rated by Ofsted but cus of that rating hasn't had an inspection since 2013.

[TiggyD]

Nursery Nurses don't stay that long in jobs. About 10 years ago I think the statistic was that they stay in a job for an average of 18 months.

I've worked often in an average to good nursery for 2 years (I'm bank staff). There are 15 staff. The Manager and Deputy were there 2 years ago, as were 3 other members of staff.

At your place there seems to be several urgent things that aren't being treated as urgent. That is a worry. And with no manager there's no "buck stops here" person. Can you have a meeting with some other parents to compare notes?

[kimlo]

I have been at my nursery for 9 years. There are 3 people who have been there longer, and a few who started at around the same time as me. Then there are a couple who have been there 3 years or less.

[insancerre]

I've been in my nursery for 4 years
Of the other staff
1 has been there 3 years
1 has been there 2 years
1 has been there 1 year
1 has been there 3 months
1 has been there 1 week
1 is on maternity but has been here 2 years
Since I started 4 years ago the staff have left for the following reasons
1 left after a few monthas she was temporary
I left to travel the world after graduating with a degree
1 left after her contract finished as she was temporary 1-1 for a Sen child
I left to start her own cake making business
1 left to care for her grandad who had dementia
I left to finish teacher training
1 left to opencast tea room
1 left to work in another nursery
1 left after I put gem on capability
1 didn't return after maternity leave
1 transferred to a nursery closer to home
1 apprentice resigned after 1 day
1 left to return to teaching
1 left to work with horses

It's very hard to recruit good staff and it's even harder to keep them

[Mojomarm]

Thanks for the feedback.
Insancerre - that last line sums up what I thought/feared slightly in that it's a hard job to get the right staff for. I do like the new NN in DS's room so fingers crossed she stays on for a bit longer.

TiggyD - good idea about the meeting but nursery is actually about 25miles from home (me & DS have a long commute) so I'm not local to the other parents in the area.