For nurses, patient care is at the forefront of their professions.
Particularly in inpatient settings, caring for and engaging with patients during every step of their journey often drives nurses’ day-to-day work and motivates them to navigate roadblocks and challenges, such as overcoming discharge barriers or daily staffing shortages. While nurses have diverse strengths and focuses as individuals, maintaining the capacity for patient care is an important factor in supporting nurse satisfaction overall.
The nurse shortage is still ongoing in the US and creating persistent issues with burnout, shift fatigue and a high number of administrative tasks that distract from patient care. A study released by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing showed that 100,000 registered nurses left the workforce during the past two years due to stress, burnout and retirements, and another 610,388 reported an intent to leave by 2027. Retirements or long tenures appear to be far from the only factors that impact nurses leaving the profession. A COVID-19 impact survey published by the American Nurses Foundation in March 2022 revealed 60% of the acute care nurse respondents feeling burned out, while 75% reported stress frustration, and exhaustion. These feelings were even higher in nurses under the age of 35, vs. those nearing retirement age, prompting the urgent need for increased satisfaction among nurses to maintain a strong pipeline.