Are nurses really leaving nursing in droves?

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I keep hearing all over social media nurses are leaving nursing, as many as 25% in past year was a stat I read in article. If so many people are leaving where are they going, we still have to make a living and I’m just curious do you see nurses quitting all together where you work? I haven’t seen this but I keep reading  it, is it another false media story.  If so what are they doing for money. 

1 hour ago, MountainGoatRN said:

Let's face it, we agree to take a job for a certain amount of money, then complain about the money. 

....in relation to the actual expectations, which were not disclosed at the time anyone was trying to decide that the pay seemed adequate.

So then that really isn't a complaint about the money as much as it is about the misrepresentation and the actual expectations.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I think it's a-OK to complain about the money. We complain about the money when we get ZERO raises for year after year, not keeping even close to inflation or cost of living. And no amount of money is worth the treatment many nurses encounter after they get "hooked" into a job.

I think it's fair to expect decent pay raises when we see what a "banner" year so many systems are having; profits through the roof, golden parachutes for executives and the like, and we get nothing.

Why not complain about money in that light? And then hope to move on where the money is better.......and treatment more stellar.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

To the OP, I don't say nurses are leaving in "droves". It cycles as far as I can tell,  from nearly 25 years' experience as a nurse. Sometimes, places are not hiring and have an abundance of applicants to chose from. Other times, there are numerous openings but not enough people interested.

What is pretty unprecedented has already been mentioned. A lot of baby boomers are retiring. This was predicted  20+ years ago or more. I remember reading articles discussing this phenomenon and concern over it in 1997 when I graduated. This is a big cycle of nurses leaving for good reason.

It's not a recruitment problem. It's a retention problem. The nurses who ARE working are not being treated well, so they move on or retire early.

That's what I see anyhow.

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Specializes in Mental health, substance abuse, geriatrics, PCU.

I moved back to acute care a few months ago, since then almost all permanent staff have resigned on my unit including the manager, assistant manager, and clinical team leaders. 

Some transferred to other units, most are becoming travelers, some are going to non bedside positions or advanced practice, some are leaving nursing altogether. 

Bedside nursing in acute, skilled, and long term care becomes more strenuous with each passing year and the pandemic has only compounded this problem. 

The money that is spent on recruitment and sign on bonuses needs to be spent on adequate staffing and retention, surely facilities would save money if they did this I just don't understand why the bean counters don't go this route.

 

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Specializes in Just about everything.

In my facility, nurses have left in droves.  My neuro unit went from 26 full time RNs to 6.  Everyone left for various reasons.  It has happened across the board.  Right now we combined 4 units to be able to staff 1 and are offering insane bonuses (extra 75$/hr) to come in extra at times.  My unit is now a neuromedical-neurosurgical-general med surg-pulmonary stepdown floor that is utilized as a dumping ground.  Administration handled COVID poorly (today your neuro, tomorrow your a COVID floor-here are gowns and masks, good luck).  Many older nurses retired, many younger nurses took outpatient positions.  My phone rings now almost as it had when I was a home health director.  The sad thing is, I see no end in sight before I retire in 16 years 8 months and 11 days.....

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Specializes in Cardiology.

Yes. Simply put they can make 2-3x the money for doing the same work. Much more schedule flexibility. 

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Specializes in Cardiology.
57 minutes ago, Trigeminy said:

In my facility, nurses have left in droves.  My neuro unit went from 26 full time RNs to 6.  Everyone left for various reasons.  It has happened across the board.  Right now we combined 4 units to be able to staff 1 and are offering insane bonuses (extra 75$/hr) to come in extra at times.  My unit is now a neuromedical-neurosurgical-general med surg-pulmonary stepdown floor that is utilized as a dumping ground.  Administration handled COVID poorly (today your neuro, tomorrow your a COVID floor-here are gowns and masks, good luck).  Many older nurses retired, many younger nurses took outpatient positions.  My phone rings now almost as it had when I was a home health director.  The sad thing is, I see no end in sight before I retire in 16 years 8 months and 11 days.....

I work on a PCU and we have had 2 nurses retire with 2 more retiring Dec/January 2022. My self and others are leaving for other positions in the system. My manager said eff this and left for travel nursing. We are dealing with something similar. We were PCU but told we were staffing covid floor. Then it was staffing covid floor but also covering cardiology pt's on the med surg floor. Then it became doing that but also having to break the monitor techs. Upper admin kept on pushing and finally they pushed too hard where nurses are like "Im out". At least you have been offered $75/hr to come in. Id do that if we had that option but we haven't been offered that but hey they found money to hire agency nurses. 

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1 hour ago, TheMoonisMyLantern said:

surely facilities would save money if they did this I just don't understand why the bean counters don't go this route.

Easy.

Retaining nurses bring them other problems that they dislike even more than their recruiting problem.

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"Ability to take time off when needed".

Exactly what older, experienced nurses want. Staffing issues= no vacation. This has led many who are close enough to retirement to retire early.

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Specializes in Oncology (Prior: Ortho-Neuro, Metabolic Surgery).

We can't keep nurses on my unit. Almost all left the beside. Here's where they are going after leaving my unit: 

Hospice
Public Health
Non-bedside hospital nursing
Military
Wound Care
Remote community ED
Small town ICU
Back to school full time to be an NP
Private practice NP
Home Health
Long-term Care
Management

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Specializes in ED, med-surg, peri op.

At my job we have had 10 nurses leave in 2 weeks. All gone to Monday-Friday nursing jobs. 

We were already short, now it’s a nightmare. Constantly in a overloaded ED, that’s always understaff. There will be plenty more of us leaving before the end of the year, my self included. 

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Specializes in Cardiac PCU, ER.
5 hours ago, EDNURSE20 said:

At my job we have had 10 nurses leave in 2 weeks. All gone to Monday-Friday nursing jobs. 

We were already short, now it’s a nightmare. Constantly in a overloaded ED, that’s always understaff. There will be plenty more of us leaving before the end of the year, my self included. 

I’m in the ED as well.  60 bed ED & 6 trauma rooms.  Always 110 pts & because the hospital is full, we hold pts for admissions, which creates a bottle neck of angry pts waiting all day to be seen.  I rarely get out on time as a mid shifter cause regular shifts are understaffed.

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