While the healthcare industry has seen improvements in hospital RN turnover and vacancy rates in the last two years, these metrics are still above pre-pandemic levels. Hospitals continue to grapple with the tension between the rising demand for care and the supply of nurses willing to work at the bedside.

To sustain progress, health systems need to understand what is contributing to turnover. Nurses are reporting increasing workloads, as historic care models have become unattainable given the lack of experienced nurses and traditional support roles. Ongoing heavy workloads lead to insufficient time to provide necessary care. Not only is this bad for patients, it also leads to moral distress and burnout, which are associated with turnover.¹ To keep nurses at the bedside and ensure they can to contribute at their highest level, health systems need to eliminate or redistribute tasks, so nurses can focus on what they do best ­­— caring for patients.