Violence, Burnout Are Driving Nurses Away

The paycheck is rising, and the respect is there on paper—but a growing number of hospital nurses are heading for the exits anyway. The Wall Street Journal reports that front-line nurses, whose median annual pay is now about $97,500 and whose skills can't easily be automated, are abandoning bedside roles amid burnout, chronic understaffing, and a sharp increase in verbal and physical assaults from patients. Turnover among bedside registered nurses has climbed to 18%, up from 11% 15 years ago, and large surveys suggest as many as 40% of nurses plan to leave the workforce or retire within five years. "The nurse is the face of the hospital, and we're constantly blamed for things outside our control," says one ER nurse in her late 20s who notes she's been kicked and spat on by patients, and even had a dinner tray hurled at her.

Hospitals are paying a steep price, including via higher labor costs, greater reliance on expensive contract staff, and heightened risks to patient safety as seasoned nurses walk away. "Now you have nurses running massive emergency rooms with 133 care spaces, and they've only been working for two or three years," says Dustin Bass, president of the Emergency Nurses Association. Some systems are experimenting with big raises, nurse residency programs, and security upgrades, while many nurses are shifting into urgent care, virtual roles, or higher-paying practitioner jobs. Even so, some, like Florida ER nurse Paige Campbell—who was strangled by a patient and later helped unionize her hospital—say they want to return and push for change. For the full picture and on-the-ground voices, more here.