Here's what nurses are saying about their work life in our health care system, based on a survey of more than 4,700 nurses from across the country.
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Many nurses want to leave their job, entirely.
1 in 3 nurses intend to leave their job, the profession or retire.
WHy?
Well, there are a few reasons.
Our health care system is understaffed.
57% of nurses are regularly responsible for more patients than they feel they can safely care for. It’s alarming. Nurses identify that 73% of near misses or patient safety incidents can be attributed to understaffing and high patient loads
Violence has become a universal experience for nurses.
95% of nurses experienced some form of violence or harassment over the last year.
As a result, many nurses struggle with their mental health.
50%+ of nurses are grappling with symptoms of burnout and psychological distress.
Many young nurses regret their career choice.
32% of early-career nurses are dissatisfied with their career choice. Meanwhile, 1 in 5 early-career nurses report their mental health as poor, very poor or terrible.
The risks of overtime.
2 in 3 nurses regularly work overtime, often involuntarily. Most worry about the safety of working more than 12 hours in a row. Nurses point to fatigue from working extended hours as a contributing factor to near misses or patient safety incidents.
How can we retain more nurses?
There's a lot we can do to take care of our nurses, so they can take care of us.
We can give nurses the support and respect they need.
Nurses say these three incentives would keep them in the field:
