Nursing shortage worsened by retirements, as burnout persists

Modern Healthcare – Wednesday, April 23, 2025
By Hayley DeSilva

The nursing shortage shows no signs of abating.

Nurses age 55 and older are retiring and burnout and stressful working conditions are prompting younger nurses to exit the field. Nearly 40% of nurses intend to leave the profession within the next five years, according to a survey of 800,000 nurses conducted by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.

More than 138,000 nurses have left the workforce since 2022, citing retirement, burnout or stress as the main reasons for leaving, the council found.

Rates of burnout, fatigue and stress have improved since 2022, when nurses were still reeling from the working conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But rates today are still troubling, according to Brendan Martin, the council’s director of research.

“If not for 2022, [2024] would be the highest rates we ever tracked,” Martin said. “I don’t know how much longer we can go without direct investment in solutions.”

Those solutions would include major policy changes regarding workplace safety as well as mental health support, salary increases and staffing improvements, Martin said. Labor unions representing nurses have frequently negotiated for those issues to be addressed in contracts.

Martin also said organizations should avoid placing newer nurses into high-stress positions including leadership roles and instead look to more experienced nurses in order to help curb burnout and strengthen retention efforts.

“A lot of these new career entrants [are] being thrust into positions where they are a little bit overwhelmed,” Martin said. “They’re getting more and more responsibilities earlier in their career, so they might be asked to be the unit manager, you know, just a few years into their career. I don’t think that that sets us up well from a burnout and stress perspective for those early career entrants.”

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