Portrait of a young nurse

The national nursing home staff turnover rate for all employees is up 25% from last year. That’s according to findings included in the 45th annual Nursing Home Salary & Benefits Report released Thursday by Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service.

The average national turnover rate across executive-level positions and those in dining services, environmental services, marketing and therapy was 29.17%, according to the report. The national average turnover among registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants was 38.68%.

An upward trend in turnover among direct care workers was met with a slight drop in the average number of RNs, LPNs and CNAs per facility as reported by participants. 

Last year’s overall turnover rate was 48.5%, up from 39% for all nursing home staff positions in the previous year.

The turnover rate for CNAs was 54.8% in 2022, compared with 51.4% in 2021. LPNs and RNs had lower turnover rates than CNAs but experienced greater increases in turnover. LPN turnover jumped to 41.3% this year from 37.7% last year, whereas RN turnover was 46.2% this year, up from 41.1% last year.

To attract new employees, 50.70% of respondents reported paying sign-on bonuses. Average sign-on bonuses reported were $4,566 for RNs, $3,494 for LPNs and $2,146 for CNAs.

“For a number of years, we’ve seen increases [in turnover] alternate between management one year and caregivers the next,” HCS Director of Reports Rosanne Zabka told McKnight’s.  “Last year, top executives received small [pay] increases of 1% to 3%, while direct care workers got the bulk of the increases, which helped slow the dramatic turnover rates of the direct care workers.”
The annual reference book is created annually in cooperation with the American Health Care Association and endorsed by LeadingAge. The full report includes data from 1,283 nursing homes covering more than 119,000 employees. It is available for purchase on the HCS website; AHCA and LeadingAge members receive a discount.