AbstractAimNewly employed nurses are subject to high workplace stress, which leads to a low retention rate. Resilience can reduce burnout among nurses. The aim of this study was to explore the relationships among perceived stress, resilience, sleep quality of new nurses during initial employment, and their impacts on first‐month retention.DesignThis is a cross‐sectional study design.MethodsWe used a convenience sampling method to recruit 171 new nurses between January and September 2021. The Perceived Stress Scale, Resilience Scale, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Inventory (PSQI) were conducted in the study. Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the impacts on first‐month retention for newly employed nurses.ResultsThe initial perceived stress, resilience, and sleep quality of the newly employed nurses were not correlated with the first‐month retention rate. Forty‐four per cent of the newly recruited nurses had sleep disorders. Resilience, sleep quality, and perceived stress of newly employed nurses were significantly correlated. Newly employed nurses assigned to their desired wards had lower perceived stress than their peers.