Study: Health system executives call nursing shortage ‘critical’

Editor's Note

In its first public study of health system executives, Incredible Health reveals that 94% of executives describe the nursing shortage as “critical.”

The 2023 Healthcare Executive Report, released June 13, which solicited responses from 100 US health system executives, also finds the following:

• 68% say they do not have the adequate nursing staff to manage another large-scale healthcare crisis
• 40% say a quarter of nurses in their system have less than 1 year of experience and 53% have less than 5 years
• 35% say they offer sign-on bonuses, 26% are increasing salaries, 16% are improving patient-to-staff ratios, and only 11% are offering flexible schedules, despite 80% of younger nurses requesting flexible scheduling and only 33% of nurses feeling fairly compensated
• 95% say there are generational differences in their nursing workforce’s approach to work and career growth, pointing to a reduction in loyalty and tenure in younger nurses
• 93% say they use travel nurses to keep up with patient demand.

“By bridging the gap of what they think nurses want and what they are actually requesting, health systems can work towards solving nurse staffing issues in their facilities,” the report says.