Sixty-five percent of nurses participating in a recent survey said they intend to leave the profession within the next two years, up 18% from last year.
The results came in ShiftMed’s annual State of Nursing Survey, released Thursday.
Additionally, the survey found that nurses are becoming less likely to recommend the profession to their friends and family, with 36% of respondents saying that they would not do so, an increase from 28% in 2021.
“Many people feel the nursing shortage was COVID-related. Although the pandemic exacerbated the situation, the nursing shortage predated the pandemic and is driven by the aging demographics in the US,” ShiftMed CEO Todd Walrath told the McKnight’s Business Daily. “Per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1.1 million nurses were needed before 2020. The first baby boomer turns 80 in 2026, so really the patient demand is just beginning.”
Overwhelmingly, the surveyed nurses cited staffing shortages in their field as a big factor in their feelings about the profession. More than half of them (52%) said their workplaces have considerable or severe staffing shortages, with nearly all of the nurses (99% of all respondents) reporting a staffing shortage of some degree.
Almost half (49%) of the nurses who reported being affected by staffing shortages said that they are concerned that their patients are not getting the care they need. And 40% of participants who reported being affected by staffing shortages reported that the shortages had a negative effect on their overall mental health.
One reason for the shortages, according to 29% of the respondents, is fear of burnout, whereas 20% reported mandated COVID-19 vaccinations as a reason.
Pay was another reason cited by participants for wanting to move on from the profession. Forty-three percent of the respondents said that pay simply has not kept pace with the cost of living.
Sixty-one percent of the participants said they needed more pay. The report found that most nurses who are likely to leave in the next two years (61%) said that higher pay would convince them to stay in the profession.
Ninety-three percent of the responding nurses said that they want control over their schedules. One in four nurses said that they would like to choose their own shifts, with 27% reporting that they are required to work too many hours. Forty-percent of the respondents expressed that they would like to have more paid time off.
The ShiftMed survey was conducted Aug. 4 to 15 online by Wakefield Research among 500 US nurses.
