ATLANTA — The nation’s nursing workforce is facing a growing crisis as burnout, staffing shortages, and heavy workloads continue to push nurses out of the profession in alarming numbers.

According to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, approximately 138,000 nurses have left the field since 2022, with 40% of those who remain reporting what experts call “acute burnout.”

“So by acute what we mean there is that they’re experiencing burnout either on a weekly basis or potentially on a daily basis,” said Brendan Martin, director of research at the Council.

Martin says the top drivers of nurse burnout are short staffing and high workloads, issues that often go hand-in-hand and have worsened in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite a steady interest in the profession, Martin says the real challenge is retaining nurses once they enter the workforce. “We have kind of a staff retention issue,” he said.

Surveys indicate that salary concerns are also among the key reasons nurses consider leaving the field. Martin emphasized that to reverse the trend, healthcare systems must invest in hiring, improving workplace conditions, and increasing compensation.

“It’s addressing things like short staffing, it’s hiring more workers, it’s salary; you know nurses in our survey report inadequate salary as one of the drivers of their intentions to depart the profession,” he said.

As burnout levels remain largely unchanged since the height of the pandemic, nursing leaders are prompting calls to strengthen the nursing workforce.

WSB’s Ashley Simmons contributed to this story