Since February 2020, nearly 1 in 5 healthcare workers, or 18 percent, have quit their jobs, according to new poll results from Morning Consult, a global privately held data intelligence company.
The poll, conducted in September among 1,000 U.S. healthcare workers, also found that 12 percent of workers have been laid off or lost a job, while 19 percent of those who kept them have considered leaving their job and the healthcare industry during the pandemic. Twelve percent of those who kept their jobs have considered leaving their job for another healthcare role, according to the poll.
The poll showed the exodus is primarily driven by the pandemic, insufficient pay or opportunities, and burnout, according to Morning Consult.
"You have physicians, you have nurses, dropping out, retiring early, leaving practice, changing jobs," Dharam Kaushik, MD, a urologist at the University of Texas Health, San Antonio, told the company. "You're experiencing loss of manpower in a field that was already short on manpower before the pandemic hit."
In the poll, 79 percent of healthcare professionals said shortages have affected them and their workplace.
Read more about the poll here.