NCSBN scan finds 40% of nurses could exit the workforce within five years

A National Council of State Boards of Nursing environmental scan finds that roughly 40% of the nursing workforce intends to leave the field or retire within the next five years. Besides retirement, the scan cites stress, burnout and workload as the primary reasons nurses intend to leave. Compounding the impending shortage is a dearth of faculty available to teach qualified nursing students and a lack of clinical placement opportunities, resulting in nursing schools turning away thousands of potential nurses each year. Noncompetitive faculty salaries, lack of necessary teaching experiences and a limited pool of PhD faculty contribute to the 7.2% faculty vacancy rate. The scan urges CNOs to work with academic institutions to reformat PhD education to fit health systems’ needs and to offer tuition reimbursement programs. (HealthLeaders Media article, 4/13/26)