Nurses experiencing burnout on national scale

Dissatisfaction with pay, management, working conditions and hours has caused nurses nationwide to leave the profession. 

The COVID-19 pandemic put a strain on hospital workers, and three years later, nurses are still feeling the effect, many experiencing what they describe as “burnout.” Nurse.com conducted a 2022 Nurse Salary Research Report and found that of the 2,516 nurses surveyed, 29% were considering leaving the profession altogether. 

The nursing shortage has primarily been fueled by the understaffing of facilities, causing them to rely on nurses to take on unsustainable workloads and forcing them to leave the profession. Not only is this harming nurses but also patients who are not receiving adequate care. “The nursing shortage worries me because if anything were to happen, I would hope my grandparents were receiving the best care possible,” Thomas S. Wootton junior Kelly Ren said. 

Another factor in the Nursing Shortage is the increased demand for care for the aging population. By 2030 the entire Baby Boomer generation will be over 65, causing an increase in the need for healthcare services and support from nurses. 

RN organizing campaigns nationwide have led a historic wave of nurse strikes and marches. National Nurses United is the largest and fastest-growing union of registered nurses. National nurses united refutes the claim of a nurse shortage; instead, they believe people push nurses out of the profession due to unsafe and unsustainable conditions created by hospitals. 

On Mar. 30, National Nurses United’s fight was brought to Washington, D.C., when members of Congress introduced the Safe Staffing Bill to address the hospital crisis. If passed, this federal legislation will set hospital limits for the number of patients each RN can care for to save patients’ lives and ensure nurses are not overworked. 

The bill will also provide protections for nurses to speak out about enforcing safe staffing standards.

Article written by Elizabeth Mehler of Thomas S. Wootton

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