Seventy-nine percent of nurses intend to remain in nursing, but only 51% plan to stay with their current employer, according to AMN Healthcare’s 2026 Healthcare Workforce Outlook Survey, released Sept. 15.
AMN Healthcare, a healthcare staffing and workforce solutions company, conducted the online survey from Feb. 24 to March 31, collecting 4,040 responses across nine leadership and front-line roles. Respondents came from hospitals and health systems of varying sizes, along with clinics, ambulatory networks, home health, academia and post-acute settings. Findings were shared with Becker’s in a news release.
Here are six key findings:
1. Workforce index: The survey introduced a Healthcare Workforce Outlook Index measuring overall workforce health across five dimensions: employee engagement, organizational health, leadership and support, staffing confidence, and future readiness. The overall score was 38%, with no dimension above 50%. Employee engagement scored highest at 48% and future readiness lowest at 29%.
2. Leadership perception gap: Fifty-eight percent of executives rated organizational leadership as effective, compared with 28% of front-line workers.
3. Staffing and workload: Eighteen percent of nurses said staffing levels are adequate, and 41% reported satisfaction with their workload. Nurses scored lowest of all participant groups across all five index dimensions.
4. Care disruptions: Eighty-five percent of nurses, 75% of allied health professionals and 72% of physicians reported staffing-related care disruptions at some frequency.
5. Retention programs: Fifteen percent of nurses, 17% of physicians and 18% of allied staff rated current retention programs as effective.
6. Burnout: Nurse burnout was 54% overall and 63% in large hospitals.
Read the full report here.
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