The American Association of International Healthcare Recruitment today released the findings of its annual nationwide survey of foreign-educated registered nurses showing widespread alarm among clinicians about the worsening healthcare staffing crisis and concern about its effect on patient care and provider wellbeing.

"While most industries have rebounded from the interruption and economic shock of the pandemic, nursing will bear the scars of the last three years for decades to come," AAIHR President Patty Jeffrey said. "Even before covid, hospital bedsides were understaffed. Now, 75 percent of practicing registered nurses say they might leave medicine if the shortage isn't finally corrected. That's going to mean more closed beds for everyone from expecting mothers to dialysis patients."

A majority of registered nurses say they might quit medicine if staffing shortage not fixed

Key findings:

Seventy-five percent of nurses say their long-term plans to remain in the practice of medicine will be negatively impacted if the staffing shortage is not corrected, up from just one-third of respondents in a 2021 AAIHR survey. An exodus of this size would catastrophically interrupt the safe delivery of healthcare in the United States.
Ninety-three percent of nurses say their hospital is experiencing a shortage, up from 59 percent of respondents in a 2020 AAIHR survey. Asked to identify the cause, 53 percent pinpointed burnout, while another 37 percent blamed staff nurse resignations.
Forty percent of nurses say their hospital has been forced to close beds because an inability to staff them.
Sixty percent say the shortage has worsened in the previous year. Roughly the same say the staffing shortage is a "serious problem." Another 30 percent described it as a "moderate problem."
Only 28 percent said their hospital could provide adequate care to patients with current staffing levels.
Sixty-one percent say workplace stress negatively affects their life outside of the hospital. Asked to describe their emotional state, nurses painted a bleak picture: exhausted (79 percent), burnt out (69 percent), undervalued (45 percent), fearful (44 percent), and sad (40 percent).
The survey, conducted by the AAIHR, sampled the opinions of 500 registered nurses between December 1-31, 2022.