News Releases

National Study Projects 20% of RNs to Leave Healthcare Workforce

A study by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing published this month sheds light on the significant toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on the nation’s nursing workforce. Approximately 100,000 registered nurses (RNs) left the workforce during the pandemic due to stress, burnout and retirements, and altogether, about one-fifth of RNs nationally are projected to leave the workforce by 2027.

The study found 62% of nurses reported an increase in their workload during the pandemic. A quarter to half of nurses reported feeling emotionally drained (50.8%), used up (56.4%), fatigued (49.7%), burned out (45.1%), or at the end of the rope (29.4%) “a few times a week” or “every day.” These issues were most pronounced for nurses with 10 or fewer years of experience.

Survey Identifies Workforce as Top Hospital Leadership Concern

The American College of Healthcare Executives’ annual survey of top issues confronting hospitals found workforce challenges to be number one on the list of hospital CEOs’ concerns in 2022, for the second year in a row. In 2021 for the first time, workforce eclipsed financial challenges, which had been reported as the top concern for 16 consecutive years. The 2022 survey identified shortages of RNs, technicians and therapists, and burnout among non-physician staff as the most commonly cited workforce concerns.

Policy Solutions

Congress and the Biden Administration continue to explore solutions to the healthcare workforce shortage the nation is facing. Most recently, the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing examining existing programs designed to bolster the healthcare workforce and considered eight bills to strengthen federal support for these efforts. Once such bill is H.R. 2411, the National Nursing Workforce Center Act, which would provide grants to state and regional nursing workforce centers to support research on the most effective nursing workforce recruitment and retention programs.

H.R. 2584, the Safety From Violence for Healthcare Employees Act (SAVE) Act, reintroduced on April 13 from the previous congressional session and currently pending in the House Judiciary Committee, would provide federal protections for healthcare workers who experience violence and intimidation in their workplace settings similar to those in the federal statute that criminalizes the assault and intimidation of aircraft and airport workers. The bill also would provide grants to hospitals for programs to help reduce the incidence of violence in care settings. While hospitals have for many years had protocols in place to protect their employees, the number of violent attacks against healthcare workers has increased steadily in recent years, with a sharp uptick during the pandemic.

Hospital Workforce Priorities

The American Hospital Association (AHA) supports both H.R. 2411 and H.R. 2584 along with several other proposed bills and programs including:

• The Future Advancement of Academic Nursing Act, which would provide vital resources to schools of nursing to support the needs of nursing students, help retain and hire diverse faculty, modernize nursing education infrastructure, and create and expand clinical education opportunities.
• Reauthorization of funding for Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development programs such as Nurse Corps, which help bolster the advanced practice and nursing workforce by addressing the shortage of nursing faculty and clinical sites, as well as funding nursing schools located in rural and underserved communities.
• The Strengthening Community Care Act of 2023 (H.R. 2559), which extends funding for community health centers and the National Health Service Corps.
• An increase in Graduate Medical Education (GME) residency slots eligible for Medicare funding to help address physician shortages, including shortages of behavioral health providers.
• Expedition of visas for foreign-trained nurses and continuation of visa waivers for physicians in medically underserved areas.
• Additional grant funding to support well-being focused initiatives, building on the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act of 2022, which provided funding for projects that help support well-being in healthcare workplaces.

For more on AHA’s priorities for strengthening the healthcare workforce, see their 2023 Advocacy Agenda.