Frontline nurses are still leaving patient care. What will keep them in their roles?

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Explore our new global survey ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 
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On Point | TODAY'S NEWS. TOMORROW'S INSIGHTS
On Point | TODAY'S NEWS. TOMORROW'S INSIGHTS
Fighting for frontline nurses
In the news
In need of nurses. Burnout, mental-health issues, unrelenting pressure: frontline nurses are quitting their jobs at a time when strained health budgets and the COVID-19 crisis have made recruiting more difficult. Between April 2021 and March 2022, more than 27,000 nurses and midwives in the UK left the register of workers who can practice in the country, a 13% increase from the prior year. National leaders need to provide more training opportunities in addition to improving working conditions for nurses, says a senior fellow at a UK healthcare charity. [FT]
Overworked. Frontline nurses in the US are fighting an uphill battle to properly care for patients. All over the country, nurses say they are exhausted and overwhelmed. Ongoing staffing shortages have left them working the equivalent of multiple jobs, with long hours, no breaks, and too many patients. Nursing advocates want hospitals to mandate minimum staffing levels, but hospitals say they can’t bear the expense. One US hospital group estimates that members have lost upward of $400 billion from the COVID-19 crisis. [Bloomberg]
Surveyed nurses in most countries highlighted the ability to take time off and to work specific hours or days of the week as important.
On McKinsey.com
Leaving the front line. It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken a toll on nurses. But globally, a substantial population of frontline nurses still want to leave their current roles, reveals a March 2022 survey of nearly 800 nurses in Brazil, France, Japan, Singapore, the UK, and the US. In five out of six countries, more than a quarter of nurses say that they will likely quit direct patient care in the next year. That means the risk of global nursing shortages may be rising. In the US alone, an additional 200,000 to 450,000 nurses could be needed by 2025.
Why nurses stay. Across geographies, there is a striking degree of consistency about how nurses feel in their roles. In most countries, nurses say that pay is not a top factor influencing them to stay. Instead, they overwhelmingly state that doing meaningful work, having a positive and engaging work environment, and feeling healthy and safe are among the biggest reasons keeping them in direct patient care, McKinsey research reveals. See a snapshot of nursing in six charts, and the two things nurses believe will most effectively support their well-being.
— Edited by Belinda Yu   
Learn what makes nurses stay
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by "McKinsey On Point" <publishing@email.mckinsey.com> - 12:13 - 7 Jul 2022