Ester Ellen Trees Bolt

Ester Ellen Trees Bolt is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Leeds since January 2023, concurrently serving as a Michael Beverley Innovation Fellow since September 2023. Previously, she held a Lecturer position at Sunway University, Malaysia, teaching HRM and research methods. She earned her PhD (2021) and Master’s (2018, Distinction) from Taylor’s University, Malaysia.

Her research focuses on healthcare HRM challenges, particularly nurse turnover, well-being, and professional identity. She investigates systemic causes of nurse attrition, advocating for cultural shifts in nursing to reduce burnout through boundary-setting training and employer support. Her work highlights how self-sacrifice norms in nursing contribute to unsustainable workloads and proposes solutions like organizational culture reforms and policy changes.

Key research areas include nurse retention strategies, leadership’s role in turnover reduction, and the impact of professional identity on job satisfaction. She collaborates with healthcare institutions to translate findings into actionable retention policies and has published widely on these topics in journals and platforms like The Conversation.

Ester’s recent work explores post-turnover experiences and the efficacy of postdoctoral fellowships in shaping academic careers. She emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches linking HRM theory with healthcare practice to address global nursing shortages and workforce sustainability challenges.