Survey: 10 things younger nurse workforce want from employers

Editor's Note

A survey from the American Nurses Foundation and marketing firm Joslin Insight, published on March 1, shows that many Generation Z and Millennial nurses are struggling with their mental health at work, and that about 60% say they will leave or are considering leaving their positions, Becker’s Hospital Review March 11 reports.

As OR Manager previously reported in the September 2021 article “Retaining nurses in a post-pandemic era–Part 1,” Millennials are likely to express their intentions to leave their jobs behind if their employers show they do not value staff’s mental health. Also, “younger nurses will not sacrifice work-life balance as members of older generations did, so mandatory overtime will simply push nurses away,” the OR Manager article notes. Similarly, Becker’s article notes that hospital executives give room to the younger generation on hospital committees and in leadership roles “so they can have a voice at the table.”

Becker's gathered responses from about a dozen nurses at health systems across the US “about what they feel is lacking in their current environments and what employers could do to fill those gaps,” and 10 pain points emerged out of four common themes: work-life balance, better pay, more support, and improved working conditions.

Here are the 10 things Generation Z and Millennial nurses say they currently need from employers:

• on-the-job training and support
• mental health support
• financial support
• respect and recognition
• improved working conditions
• long-term workforce solutions
• patience
• more flexible working hours
• fulfillment
• continuing education support.

Visit the full Becker’s story below for more detail on each response.