Nearly half of nurse practitioners report feeling burned out and 1 in 6 report having both burnout and depression, according to an Aug. 11 Medscape report.
Medscape’s “When Caring Costs Too Much: Medscape Nurse Practitioner Burnout & Depression Report 2026” surveyed 770 nurse practitioners from Jan. 26 to May 5.
Here is what to know about the current state of burnout among NPs:
1. More than 1 in 2 NPs reported experiencing burnout, depression, or both.
2. Men were more likely than women to attribute most of their burnout to work (64% versus 53%), and only 1% of women said their burnout was unrelated to job stress.
3. Among participants, 41% said they have not sought professional care in the past or intend to seek professional help now, compared to 22% who are currently seeking help.
4. Nurse practitioners said the top five improvements that could reduce burnout are increased compensation to avoid financial stress (52%), more manageable work schedule (42%), lighter patient load (41%), greater respect from administrators, employers, colleagues or staff (35%), and more support staff (34%).
5. Only 16% of NPs said their employer sees the impact of staff burnout, and 57% said they do not.
6. For 11% of women and 28% of men, burnout is so severe that they are considering leaving medicine altogether.
7. Older NPs are considering leaving medicine altogether over burnout at 17% compared to 6% of millennial NPs.
8. Forty-five percent of NPs report having felt burned out for more than two years.
9. The work aspects contributing most to NP burnout are too many bureaucratic tasks (60%), insufficient compensation or salary (45%), too many hours to work (43%), lack of respect from employers, colleagues or staff (39%), and lack of respect from patients (25%).
