Lowering readmission rates ranks lowest among 20 executive-level priorities in nursing care, according to a report from NSI Nursing Solutions, a healthcare recruitment agency.
NSI surveyed 1,676 hospital and healthcare CEOs, COOs, nursing executives and human resource leaders across the U.S. for its annual Hospital Executive Level Priorities (HELP) survey.
The HELP Nursing survey scored each priority 20 on a scale from 1 to 100. While quality of care and patient safety remained the top concern, its score dropped 5.4 percentage points year over year — from 97.1 in 2024 to 91.7 in 2025.
Between 2024 and 2025, the priority given to talent retention and turnover fell by 12 percentage points. Efforts to reduce premium labor expenses dropped even further, with a 13 percentage-point decline. The most notable gain was seen in concerns around bed capacity and emergency department overcrowding, which increased from 62.1 to 70.
Here are the 20 nursing care priorities ranked by executives:
Quality of care and patient safety — 91.7
Patient satisfaction and experience — 79.4
Retaining talent or employee turnover — 73.5
Registered nurse/professional recruitment — 72.2
Maintaining competitive salary, wages and benefits — 71.4
Workplace violence — 71
Bed capacity and ER overcrowding — 70
Maximizing support roles to reduce RN workload — 66.2
Shift coverage — 64.1
Financial reimbursements — 60.1
Reducing premium labor expenses, e.g. overtime, contract/travel, shift bonus — 59.5
Burnout — 58.8
Cost containment — 58.8
Leadership development — 58.6
Capital equipment/technology acquisition and implementation — 56.8
Professional development — 56.5
Regulatory mandates — 54.6
Redesigning care process — 54.1
Succession planning — 51
Lowering readmission rates — 47.8
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