Why Are So Many Nurses Thinking About Leaving the Profession?
Many nurses think about leaving because of stress, burnout, workload and staffing, not because they stopped caring about patients. In the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) 2024 workforce survey, 39.9% of RNs and 41.3% of LPN/VNs said they intended to leave the workforce or retire within five years. Among those planning to leave for reasons other than retirement, about 41.5% named stress and burnout as the root cause. (NCSBN, 2026)
What the national survey found
NCSBN and the National Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers run a national nursing workforce study every two years. The figures above come from the 2024 round, as summarized in NCSBN’s announcement of its next survey. The same summary says workload, understaffing and inadequate salary followed stress and burnout among the top reasons for leaving, and that the workforce showed some signs of recovery after COVID-19, with long-term stability still uncertain. (NCSBN, 2026)
“Intent to leave” is a statement about plans, not a count of people who actually left. Some nurses who say they plan to leave stay, and some who do not say so leave anyway.
How common were burnout feelings in the earlier survey?
An earlier NCSBN report, “Examining the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Burnout & Stress Among U.S. Nurses,” asked nurses how often they had certain feelings. The share who felt each “a few times a week” or “every day” was (HealthLeaders via PSQH, 2023):
| Feeling | Share of nurses |
|---|---|
| Used up | 56.4% |
| Emotionally drained | 50.8% |
| Fatigued | 49.7% |
| Burned out | 45.1% |
| At the end of their rope | 29.4% |
In that report, 62% of nurses said their workloads had increased during the pandemic, and about one-fifth of RNs nationally were projected to leave by 2027. The coverage names workload and burnout as key drivers, especially among younger, less-experienced RNs with 10 or fewer years of experience. The article does not report the sample size or response rate, so treat these as a snapshot of that survey, not a precise national count. (HealthLeaders via PSQH, 2023)
Why burnout and leaving go together
Burnout is usually described as a response to chronic strain at work, such as heavy workloads, too little staffing and too little control over how care is delivered, rather than a personal failing. The survey results fit that picture: workload and understaffing appear next to burnout in the reasons nurses gave. That is why fixes that only ask an individual nurse to cope better tend to miss the cause.
What you can do
This is education, not a recommendation about your own health or career. Options clinicians often look at include:
- Name what is draining you. Workload, schedule, staffing, a specific unit or a specific kind of patient event each point toward different next steps.
- Talk with peers you trust. Colleagues are often the first people who understand the strain.
- Raise system-level problems through the channels you have, such as a charge nurse, manager, shared governance council or union.
- Check in with yourself regularly. A short, regular look at sleep, mood, energy and relationships can show change over time. Our five-minute well-being check-in is one way to do that.
- Talk to your own clinician or a mental health professional if you are struggling. They can discuss options with you.
Related reading
- What is the difference between burnout and depression in clinicians?
- Why do physicians feel burned out even when work looks fine?
- What is moral injury, and how is it different from burnout?
If you are in crisis or thinking about suicide: call or text 988 (the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US), or use its chat, any time of day or night. You can also text HOME to 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line, which is free and available 24/7 in the US. In an emergency, call 911. Sources: 988 Lifeline, Crisis Text Line.
This article is education, not medical or mental-health advice.
This article is education, not medical or mental-health advice. Talk with your own clinician about your situation.