Why do you think nurses leave the profession?

Nurses Professionalism

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  1. Reasons nurses leave the profession

    • 567
      Short-staffing
    • 314
      Too many tasks
    • 46
      Lack of upward mobility
    • 311
      Poor management
    • 212
      Underpayment
    • 144
      Other- please explain below

85 members have participated

I've been a nurse for awhile and have always contemplated what makes nurses leave the profession (or bedside for that manner). As a matter of fact, I have thought about it from time to time in the 13 years I've been a nurse. From my experience I have found that aspects such as short-staffing, too many tasks, lack of upward mobility, poor management and underpayment contribute to a nurses' unhappiness in their career.

I just wanted to ask the general nursing population regardless of how long you've been a nurse what your thoughts were. Do you think leaving the profession comes from one of the aspects listed above? Or is it something else entirely?

To be clear this is not a school assignment...;)

Nurses working in nice, non bedside jobs, never leave them, nor do they retire.

They leave only when they are carried out feet first.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

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Nurses working in nice, non bedside jobs, never leave them, nor do they retire.

They leave only when they are carried out feet first.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

EXACTLY! Either they are carried out feet first or they slowly trickle into LTC and we're forced to continue to wreck our bodies caring for them... until we're too disabled to work... and, when that day comes there won't be any nice non-bedside jobs for us to transition into. We deserve the same career options former generations got to enjoy in the nursing profession.

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Nurses working in nice, non bedside jobs, never leave them, nor do they retire.

They leave only when they are carried out feet first.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN (ret)

Somewhere in the PACNW

There's another way to look at this. A number of smart people leave bedside nursing for careers where they could be nurses, but can have far greater control over their lives and don't need to kill themselves physically. These people are not to be scorned, envied, or castigated. They are to be emulated.

The scariest thing I ever did was take my first non–hospital job after around 20 years, work I thought I would do forever. Life happens, it was not to be. It was also the thing that led me to a lifelong career, still a nurse, but not doing the things that I see people hating here. I confess that it wasn't my idea in the first place. I only learned to bless my good fortune about it in retrospect...and wish I'd thought/known to do it sooner. And yes, of course I will do it until I retire.

Yes, I needed that degree. Yes, I had to pay dues in a new way. Yes, there were, and are, other challenges. And yes, I am everlastingly glad to be able to have a career in nursing, as a nurse, in a setting I never knew existed.

Think about that. There's a lot you* don't know about nursing. For example, you might think you know about nurses "working in nice non-bedside jobs," but you don't know much more about them than their titles. Be bold enough to go out and find some if it...or stop whining about what you do and how much you dislike it. Yes, you can. What is stopping YOU?

* Generic "you," not lindarn, who I know does know more about this :)

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There's another way to look at this. A number of smart people leave bedside nursing for careers where they could be nurses, but can have far greater control over their lives and don't need to kill themselves physically. These people are not to be scorned, envied, or castigated. They are to be emulated.

The scariest thing I ever did was take my first non–hospital job after around 20 years, work I thought I would do forever. Life happens, it was not to be. It was also the thing that led me to a lifelong career, still a nurse, but not doing the things that I see people hating here. I confess that it wasn't my idea in the first place. I only learned to bless my good fortune about it in retrospect...and wish I'd thought/known to do it sooner. And yes, of course I will do it until I retire.

Yes, I needed that degree. Yes, I had to pay dues in a new way. Yes, there were, and are, other challenges. And yes, I am everlastingly glad to be able to have a career in nursing, as a nurse, in a setting I never knew existed.

Think about that. There's a lot you* don't know about nursing. For example, you might think you know about nurses "working in nice non-bedside jobs," but you don't know much more about them than their titles. Be bold enough to go out and find some if it...or stop whining about what you do and how much you dislike it. Yes, you can. What is stopping YOU?

* Generic "you," not lindarn, who I know does know more about this :)

Then PLEASE share the wealth and disclose what these lesser known areas of the profession are rather than alluding to them. Conditions at the bedside are worsening and becoming intolerable and unsafe. Many of us bedside nurses are dying at the bedside, dying for a way out and dying to know what you know...

Where I work, upward mobility isn't an option until someone dies and frees up those positions. This is because many of these nurses (well into their late 70s and older) only have their diplomas but were "grandfathered" into esteemed positions, and work until they die. What recourse is left for new nurses when even getting the bachelors or master's degree isn't a guarantee anymore to expand career options without relocating countries?

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Ouch! That hurts! Now that I have been working since age 17, and in nursing for the past 25 years, still working because I have to, you are waiting for me to be "carried out feet first" - and then you will resent me if my health fails and I end up in a nursing home! Scarey!

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Specializes in critical care, LTC.
What TheCommuter said.

I don't plan on working at the bedside for eons. I see nurses in their fifties and sixties working on the floor, many pulling night shifts, and they complain about how hard it is on their bodies. How they wished they'd pursue a higher degree. How they can remember the times when healthcare wasn't always about business and the bottom line and when charting didn't keep them from providing patient care.

I admire those who have been able to stay at the bedside for years and years. Kudos!

It is hard on the body! Been a nurse for 30+ years. Mostly days, some nights. Mostly bedside. Some management. Had to jump thru more hoops and be yes-woman in management. Not my style. Enjoy taking care of patients. Work inpatient hospice now. We're all old

nurses! Love it. Not as hectic. And I do remember paper charting and paper MARS. Much prefer computer both! Computer charting is why some of my cohorts left. Felt they were too old to learn that. If you're too old to learn, you're too old.

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Ouch! That hurts! Now that I have been working since age 17, and in nursing for the past 25 years, still working because I have to, you are waiting for me to be "carried out feet first" - and then you will resent me if my health fails and I end up in a nursing home! Scarey!

I have been working since I was 14. I have only been in nursing several years. I haven't had the longevity you have had in nursing and doubt I will unless I can escape the nightmare bedside nursing is becoming (ex. patient satisfaction scores).

I didn't mean to be hurtful or disrespectful, but it literally is the only way to move around in nursing these days. Younger nurses are being worked to near death at the bedside and current research shows we are burning out within a few years of getting licensed. Bedside nursing has become more complex, more demanding and our scope of "tasks" are ever-increasing, the education to be come any category of Nurse is lengthier, more involved, more expensive and many nurses have had to take out loans to pay for this exhaustive education... Only to face low/ fixed wages, casual or contract positions, no health or insurance benefits, and overall dehumanizing bedside careers. The elimination of forced retirement means, there are less career options because people have the option to work right up until they die and many are doing just that. Thanks to medical innovations people are living longer and longer.

So, will I accept that when I'm older I may have to potentially destroy my aged body as a bedside nurse and the only options are LTC to take care of nurses who got to enjoy career options/cushier position/physically tolerable jobs because non-bedside full-time positions with benefits are not available and still being held by nurses in their 80s/90s/etc... NO! It is the unflattering truth. I won't do it. Do I resent you for being an opportunist and holding your position "forever" for whatever your personal/financial reason, no. However, I will not put myself in that situation. I will find a way out. Why do you think so many Nurses are rushing to get their masters, NP, PhD? It's not just out of academic interest or ambition. It's a means to an end to escape the hell... And I don't think it's reasonable to expect all newer Nurse to relocate to remote places they have never heard of, far away from their support networks as means to gainful employment that is sustainable, there is something wrong with what is happening. I'm not negating your contribution to the profession, but there is something terribly wrong with this picture.

Those responsible for creating this intolerable employment culture are sending us all running right back to school or leaving the profession for alternate careers... and when those responsible need assistive or LTC care we will not be around.

Recently, an administrative nursing position opened up where I work. This was solely because the nurse in that position (in their mid 70s) started to develop symptoms of dementia and had become too impaired to perform the job. Extremely impaired.

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I am in long term care (an area you seem to fear greatly). I am both a supervisor and also a floor nurse. I really never wanted a "cushy office job". ( I did have one before going into nursing, it was rather a bore.) Right now, nurses in LTC are stretched to the limits. Usually 25-30 residents per nurse, 3-4 CNAs to do the ADLs. The acuity in LTC has greatly increased during my years in the field. I just do not think there is an "easy" nursing job to be had, and the low pay, lack in benefits, etc affect all of us. There never was a retirement plan at my facility - that, and the fact that my husband has been in poor health for years, is why I continue to work - it is not my intention to hold onto my job until dementia sets in, just to spite you in your quest for a "cushy" job.

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@Sixtyseven To me, a "cushy" nursing job is one that is physically tolerable and free from physical abuse (I am not looking for a quick buck, a means to be lazy or an easy way out-- I would just like to clarify that). Health and insurance benefits would be great too, but I'm not reaching for the stars here. So, yes I would classify non-bedside nursing jobs as cushy and I WANT one! It would be lovely to go to work and not have to dodge feces or punches.

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Surely you realize that most of those nurses holding the "cushy" jobs have long ago paid their dues in physical and mental exhaustion and abuse. I do not believe there ever was a time when nursing was easy. Right now, it is the corporations making working conditions bad for everyone, not just in nursing but in just about every field. Corporations seem to always find the best way to save dollars is to cut back on the real workers, their pay and their benefits and then increase the pay for the CEOs who have done the cutting. This sets us workers against each other - we are at the bottom squabbling for the least obnoxious jobs and trying to make ends meet.

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@Sixtyseven The whole concept of "paying your dues" is a little overrated. If someone even spends one month only at the bedside and has the opportunity to escape, all the more power to them:up: No one should be forced to "pay their dues" in any clinical area of nursing they find to be intolerable. Additionally, I'm not challenging that some, more senior nurses haven't paid their dues in the tenches.. But let's be honest, some have and some haven't. Some nurses with 20+ years under their belt were ushered right into non-bedside positions right after graduation. I know because I work under many (only possesisng their diplomas and "grandfathered" into exemption) who have never spent time on the floor their entire careers. Nowadays, to even apply for these coveted non-bedside positions, when the predecessor RIPs and it becomes vacant, a nurse is now required (thanks in part to academic inflation) to have a Masters degree or higher. So, let's be realistic/honest about the status quo.

Now, goingnback to the OP's question...this has all been a very long-winded response as to why I consider, given the current conditions of bedside nursing, the "lack of upward mobility/career options" to be the reason why many are leaving the profession and struggling to attain higher education. Because let's face it, who the hell would be happy to attain lots of expensive education and endure difficult training to end up: A)In a dead end career & B)In a job where they are consistently abused?

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Specializes in Critical Care.
I have been working since I was 14. I have only been in nursing several years. I haven't had the longevity you have had in nursing and doubt I will unless I can escape the nightmare bedside nursing is becoming (ex. patient satisfaction scores).

I didn't mean to be hurtful or disrespectful, but it literally is the only way to move around in nursing these days. Younger nurses are being worked to near death at the bedside and current research shows we are burning out within a few years of getting licensed. Bedside nursing has become more complex, more demanding and our scope of "tasks" are ever-increasing, the education to be come any category of Nurse is lengthier, more involved, more expensive and many nurses have had to take out loans to pay for this exhaustive education... Only to face low/ fixed wages, casual or contract positions, no health or insurance benefits, and overall dehumanizing bedside careers. The elimination of forced retirement means, there are less career options because people have the option to work right up until they die and many are doing just that. Thanks to medical innovations people are living longer and longer.

So, will I accept that when I'm older I may have to potentially destroy my aged body as a bedside nurse and the only options are LTC to take care of nurses who got to enjoy career options/cushier position/physically tolerable jobs because non-bedside full-time positions with benefits are not available and still being held by nurses in their 80s/90s/etc... NO! It is the unflattering truth. I won't do it. Do I resent you for being an opportunist and holding your position "forever" for whatever your personal/financial reason, no. However, I will not put myself in that situation. I will find a way out. Why do you think so many Nurses are rushing to get their masters, NP, PhD? It's not just out of academic interest or ambition. It's a means to an end to escape the hell... And I don't think it's reasonable to expect all newer Nurse to relocate to remote places they have never heard of, far away from their support networks as means to gainful employment that is sustainable, there is something wrong with what is happening. I'm not negating your contribution to the profession, but there is something terribly wrong with this picture.

Those responsible for creating this intolerable employment culture are sending us all running right back to school or leaving the profession for alternate careers... and when those responsible need assistive or LTC care we will not be around.

Recently, an administrative nursing position opened up where I work. This was solely because the nurse in that position (in their mid 70s) started to develop symptoms of dementia and had become too impaired to perform the job. Extremely impaired.

I empathize with your fears and frustration over bedside care, but don't think older nurses are the cause of a lack of other opportunities. Many older workers including nurses are routinely laid off to make way for a younger and cheaper replacement. You are overreacting to the situation because you see 70+ people in the workforce. I really do not think that is the problem, I think the majority of nurses retire younger than not either due to disability, pain, illness, layoffs or if they are lucky because they can afford to.

I think you are right that many of the new grads see the sweatshop conditions of bedside nursing and vote with their feet by getting their NP. There is no reason you couldn't do the same, plus you mention you are young and have only been a nurse for a few years. Make the leap! I'm sure you will be glad you did. If you take the time to network and befriend the doctors you work with, they might be able to give you an NP job when you graduate rather than worrying about relocating. Worse case scenario if you had to relocate it would only be a temporary situation just to gain experience. Consider that doctors usually have to relocate first for medical school and then for residency and if they work for a hospital system have a non compete clause that would require them to relocate if they left before the contract was up. While NP's are paid less than doctors most don't have to move around as much, yet alone end up in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and years in school and residency.

If I was younger I would do just that, but I'm choosing to save for retirement, and pay off my mortgage. I share your frustration about bedside nursing, especially the foley free movement and the increasing size of patients we have now that take 3-4 people to move and still be afraid of getting hurt or ending up in chronic pain. Be smart, don't stay at the bedside, but go back to school and get your NP instead. You'll be glad you did!

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