Since COVID, hospitals, urgent cares, and doctor’s offices have been experiencing nursing shortages. Close to a third of nurses nation wide say they are likely to leave their jobs for other careers due to the pandemic, a new survey from AMN Healthcare shows.

The survey found that the nursing shortage will continue to be ongoing for the years to come in the healthcare industry.

About 94% of nurses who responded to the AMN Healthcare survey said there was a severe or moderate shortage of nurses in their area. Nearly half of them said that the shortage was severe, and around 89% of registered nurses (RNs) noted that the nursing shortage was worse than it was 5 years ago.
These nurses are not at all optimistic about the future either. At least 80% of those who took the survey said they expect the shortage to worsen in the next five years.

The National Nurses United President, Deborah Burger, and President of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW, Jane Hopkins, said that the unions that represent nurses have long warned us about the problems facing the profession. Both the women who said this are also RNs.

“It’s a critical moment in our time for nurses. The country needs nurses. We are very short, and we are feeling apprehensive about the future of their work,” Hopkins said.