Dive Brief:
- More than a third of nurses said it’s extremely likely they’ll change jobs this year, according to a survey by staffing firm AMN Healthcare.
- The results suggest frustration is still high among nurses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and turnover will likely remain elevated in 2024, the report said.
- Higher compensation and increased staffing are key to improving job satisfaction, according to the report. Three-quarters of nurses said better pay was extremely important to them, while 68% reported allocating more nurses per patient was crucial in their workplaces.
Dive Insight:
The survey from AMN is the latest report to find mounting employee discontent after the pandemic, when burnout pushed nurses to consider leaving the profession.
During the public health emergency, health systems faced heightened labor costs as pricey temporary staff and a more competitive market made it expensive to hire — which added significant strain to hospital margins in 2022.
Those pressures are now alleviating, but hospitals will still likely need to offer higher salaries and better benefits to attract and retain staff, according to a December report from credit agency Fitch Ratings.
But nurses aren’t so confident conditions are improving for them. The AMN survey, based on responses from 1,155 nurses nationwide, found just 20% believed 2024 would be better than 2023, and 37% predicted the year would be worse for nurses.
Overall, 55% reported they were extremely or somewhat likely to change jobs this year. Similarly, 35% said it was extremely likely they’d adjust their hours or schedule, according to the report.
“Turnover and volatility in the nursing workforce have been endemic over the last several years,” Robin Johnson, group president of nursing solutions at AMN Healthcare, said in a statement. “That trend is likely to continue until nurse concerns are addressed.”
Schedule flexibility is also increasingly important in the wake of the pandemic, including options for part-time work, telehealth or hybrid roles, per diem arrangements or travel nursing jobs.
Fifty-eight percent of surveyed nurses said better schedules or hours were extremely important at their workplaces.
Wellness and diversity programs were less valued by respondents, suggesting tangible benefits like higher pay, improved staffing and better schedules were more essential to retaining staff.
Just over 40% of respondents said more wellness programs were extremely important, while 26% said more diversity among nurses was extremely important.
