More Nurses to Leave Healthcare Workforce as Job Satisfaction Drops

More nurses plan to leave the healthcare workforce as career satisfaction has decreased and mental health and well-being problems have increased, according to a survey from AMN Healthcare.

The 2023 Survey of Registered Nurses reflects responses from over 18,000 registered nurses in the United States.

“The survey data reveal the depth of the problems faced in nursing today and concludes with solutions that could help alleviate the strain posed by systemic staffing shortages and exacerbated by the pandemic,” Cole Edmonson, DNP, RN, FACHE, chief clinical officer of AMN Healthcare, said in a press release. “The health of our nation is tied directly to the health of the nursing workforce.”

The survey found that 61 percent of nurses will continue to work for their current employer a year from now, marking a five-point decrease from 2021. Nurses with more experience and higher job satisfaction were more likely to report that they’d be with their current employer in one year.

A quarter of nurses who are eligible to retire said they plan to do so in one year or less, while 57 percent said they will retire in three or more years from now. Among nurses who are not retiring in a year, 40 percent said they will continue working in their current job for a year, falling from 45 percent in 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced how nurses feel about their jobs. Three in ten nurses said they will likely leave nursing altogether due to the pandemic, compared to 23 percent in 2021. This likelihood was greater among nurses with less than five years of experience and younger generations.

Nurses employed at hospitals were less likely to continue working as they are in the next year, with just 15 percent agreeing with the statement. Over 35 percent of hospital nurses said they would continue working as a nurse but will seek a new place of employment.

While nurses have typically held high career satisfaction rates, these rates declined during and after the pandemic.

In the four biennial surveys before 2023, between 81 and 85 percent of nurses said they were extremely or somewhat satisfied with their career choice. However, this figure dropped to 71 percent in 2023.

Job satisfaction also declined in 2023, with 64 percent of nurses saying they were satisfied with their current job compared to 67 percent in 2021. Additionally, fewer nurses were likely to encourage others to become a nurse, with the share falling from 64 percent in 2021 to 50 percent in 2023.

Nurses are becoming less satisfied with the quality of care they deliver. In 2021, 75 percent of nurses said they were satisfied with the quality of care they can provide in their current job compared to 63 percent in 2023.

Higher stress levels have also contributed to nurses wanting to leave their jobs. More than 80 percent of nurses experience a great deal or a lot of stress in their job, up from 65 percent in 2021. Seventy-seven percent of nurses agreed that they often feel emotionally drained, compared to 62 percent in 2021. Similarly, 70 percent of nurses reported worrying that their job was affecting their health, 58 percent reported feeling underappreciated at work, and 55 percent often felt like quitting.

Only 20 percent of nurses said they address their mental health and well-being at least four times a week, while 35 percent of respondents never address mental health and well-being issues.

According to the respondents, the best strategies for reducing stress among nurses are incorporating more nurse input into decision-making (86 percent), creating a safer working environment (86 percent), increasing salaries (87 percent), reducing patients per nurse (89 percent), and increasing support staff (90 percent).

Nursing staffing shortages are expected to continue. Eight in ten nurses said they expect current shortages to get much or somewhat worse in the next five years.

Hospitals and health systems must undergo a systemic transformation in how they view and deploy the healthcare workforce to help overcome low job satisfaction and avoid shortages, according to AMN Healthcare. Additionally, organizations should leverage technology to help reduce administrative burdens and partner with other healthcare organizations.