Nurses are increasingly hanging up their scrubs

Despite strong demand and good pay, a growing number of nurses across the US are leaving bedside care as heavier workloads, understaffing, and rising workplace violence take a toll.

By the numbers

Nursing seems like a pretty attractive career on paper, with most registered nurses holding bachelor's degrees, an industry-wide median annual wage of $97,550 as of May 2025, and a lower risk of being replaced by automation.

Yet despite those advantages, hospitals are having an increasingly hard time keeping nurses on staff.

• The annual turnover rate among bedside registered nurses reached 18% last year, up from 11% around 15 years ago, according to NSI Nursing Solutions.
• A 2024 survey of ~800,000 nurses found ~40% planned to retire or leave the nursing workforce within the next five years, citing factors including stress, burnout, and understaffing.
• Another survey conducted in 2026 found 43% of nurses say they’re likely to leave bedside roles within the next year, up from 38% last year.

What’s behind the shift?

Nursing has become a tougher, more involved job in recent years, partly because the types of patients hospitals treat have changed. As more routine procedures move to outpatient facilities, hospitals are increasingly caring for patients with serious, complicated conditions who need more attention from nurses.

• At the same time, hospitals are operating with fewer beds and keeping them occupied more consistently, leaving resources stretched thin when patient demand increases.
• Nurses are also being moved between departments to fill staffing gaps, adding unfamiliar assignments and mounting paperwork to already-demanding 12-hour shifts with few breaks.

The growing risk of workplace violence adds even more strain, particularly for those working in emergency rooms. Some 2.4% of nursing staff were attacked on the job last year, a 26% increase from 2017 and amounting to well over 1,000 attacks/month, per healthcare consulting firm Press Ganey, who says the actual figure is likely higher due to underreporting.

Surveys by nursing associations and unions have found 33% of nurses report being punched or kicked in the past year, while 12% report being groped or inappropriately touched.

Some hospitals are adapting out of necessity

When experienced nurses leave, hospitals lose staff who've spent years learning to recognize early warning signs of medical complications, while newer nurses have fewer seasoned colleagues to turn to for guidance.

• At Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, replacing a nurse costs around $78,000, prompting the hospital system to invest $150 million in staff raises, mostly for nurses, to help reduce turnover.
• Rome Health in upstate New York has also seen improvements after investing in training and one-on-one coaching for nurses, with its annual turnover rate dropping from 50% to 28% between 2019-25.

Some hospitals have also boosted safety protocols to deal with the risk of serious violence, including metal detectors, panic buttons, and armed private security. Nurses reportedly say the safety measures are helpful, but should come alongside other changes like adequate staffing and limiting patient overcrowding.

📊 Flash poll: What single change do you think would make the biggest difference in keeping bedside nurses on staff at hospitals?

• Higher pay and better benefits
• More nurses on staff to ease in-shift responsibilities
• Stronger protections against workplace violence
• More flexible schedules and shorter shifts
• Other/unsure