The U.S. health care system could be headed for a staffing crisis after a new survey found that more than half of America’s health workers were actively looking to leave their jobs.
Health care staffing shortages have been increasing across the country, impacting Americans’ access to care and health outcomes. At the same time, health care professionals are reporting higher rates of burnout and emotional fatigue.
It is an issue that only appears to be getting worse, and the Health Resources and Services Administration has forecast a shortage of nearly 700,000 physicians, registered nurses and licensed practical nurses by 2037.
What The Study Found
Research and analytics company The Harris Poll was commissioned by the education services company Strategic Education to conduct a survey of 1,504 front-line health care employees and 304 employers between June 26 and July 21 this year.
The findings revealed that 55 percent of health care employees said they would look for job openings, interview for, or switch to new role in the next year—38 percent would look internally for roles, while 44 percent would look outside their current organization.
Eight in ten health care employees reported feeling they were taken for granted, and four in ten felt that the general public valued their professions more than their employers.
While 37 percent of employees felt satisfied with their job, 42 percent said they felt underappreciated by their manager or supervisor.
The main reasons cited by those for wanting to look for a different role included inadequate compensations and benefits, burnout or emotional fatigue, a lack of career advancement, personal development or education opportunities.
Education opportunities at work seem to be particularly important for health care professionals, as three in four said they were interested in continuing their education, and six in ten said they would be more likely to stay with their employer if tuition support was provided.
The vast majority of surveyed health care professionals said they thought these opportunities would better help them advance in their careers, improving their potential salaries, and that without these opportunities, it was difficult to progress in their career.
While the findings show the majority of health care professionals are looking to change roles, it’s important to remember this does not indicate that they hope to leave the health sector entirely, Erin Fraher, professor and director of the Carolina Health Workforce Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Newsweek.
“It’s important to distinguish between the intent to leave a current position measured in this survey by searching for, interviewing for, or switching jobs in 2026 with actual exit from the workforce,” she said.
Experts though aren’t all that surprised about the results of the survey—Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, professor of medicine at the University of Colorado, told Newsweek she wasn’t “surprised at all” by the findings.
“In fact, this survey aligns with national data showing that nearly 45 percent of physicians report at least one symptom of burnout, even as rates have improved since their peak in 2021,” she said.
Dyrbye also said the results confirm what she had been hearing health care workers say directly, namely that they are “stressed, stretched, and seeking change.”
“It’s a call to action for organizations to double down on strategies to improve the work environment and support their workforce,” she added.
A Strained Health Care System
Burnout and emotional fatigue are widely researched issues faced by clinicians—and help explain why turnover rates can be so high and continue to accelerate.
In the five years following the COVID-19 pandemic, burnout has been a particularly widespread problem in the health care industry, as demands and strain on the system hugely intensified.
Before the pandemic, while there had been some increases, levels of emotional fatigue were generally much lower.
Patricia (Polly) Pittman, professor and director of the Fitzhugh Mullan Institute for Health Workforce Equity at George Washington University, told Newsweek she and her colleagues had recently completed a study finding “moral injury among nurses and we found three levels of trauma.”
She said that nurses also say they feel that their “physical and physiological safety is not a priority for administrators” and that they do not feel valued, and as a result, they “no longer trust their employers.”
Some research has indicated that, strain and demand aside, factors like how valued employees feel and how organized they feel in their workplace can impact rates of burnout.
A study from 2021 found that health care professionals who felt valued by their organizations were 40 percent less likely to experience burnout.
Another study, from 2024, found that “perceived organizational support of physicians” during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with “a lower risk of burnout and a higher likelihood of professional fulfillment.”
Dyrbye said that “research has shown physicians who are burned out are twice as likely to leave their current employer in comparison to physicians who are not burned out.”
The strain on the health care system is not only down to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also on America’s aging population. With a growing proportion of Baby Boomer’s making up the country’s population, demand for health care services is ramping up.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has also been putting health care professionals under significant pressure, and many now feel a greater need to upskill to avoid falling behind or even losing their job.
Employers are also struggling, and many report facing “greater financial stress” at present, Joanne Spetz, professor and director of the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at University of California, San Francisco, told Newsweek.
“They are concerned about the financial pressure increasing even more as changes enacted by [the One Big Beautiful Bill, otherwise known as HR1] are implemented,” she said.
Implications For Health Care Services
Pittman said the outcome of this is “not a pretty picture.” She said “access to care will be reduced and the safety and quality of care will be compromised.”
Dyrbye said that research has shown that physicians “who are burned out are much more likely to cut back on the time they spend taking care of patients.”
She said that a 2022 national study found that around 40 percent of physicians said they planned to reduce clinical hours, which Dyrbye said was more than double the rate a decade ago.
“This has profound implications,” she said. “It has been estimated that physician turnover and reduction in clinical hours attributable to burnout is costing the U.S. $4.6 billion a year.”
Some estimates also suggest that the average cost of turnover to employers for a bedside nurse range from $45,000 to $67,500, Fraher said.
“There are not just costs for employers; patients may experience increased waiting times or trouble getting an appointment at all,” she added.
Greater workforce shortages and increased costs from turnover are expected to continue, as well as declines in patient access and quality of care, Dyrbye said.
“High turnover disrupts team cohesion and continuity of care—both of which can negatively impact patient outcomes,” she said.
Although, there is an opportunity now for health care organizations to “redesign workflows, reduce administrative burdens, and invest in leadership development, peer support, coaching, and career growth opportunities,” she added.
She said that these interventions have been found “to improve professional fulfillment and mitigate burnout.”
The health care industry is therefore confronted with a conundrum: of how to retain and improve work environments for its burnout professionals and slow down the rate of shortages in a system that is being strained from multiple angles.
That problem is likely only to deepen in complexity as well, as President Donald Trump’s cuts and changes to Medicaid and other health insurance systems have led experts to warn that the health of Americans could worsen as the number of uninsured increases.
With less covered, and many rural hospitals also at high risk of closure, emergency departments in particular may see another level of strain heaped on top of an already struggling system.
Full Interview Below
Newsweek’s interview with Dr. Lotte Dyrbye, Professor of medicine and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Chief Well-Being Officer at the University of Colorado.
Q1: Are you surprised by this survey’s findings?
“I’m not surprised at all. In fact, this survey aligns with national data showing that nearly 45 percent of physicians report at least one symptom of burnout, even as rates have improved since their peak in 2021.
“Additionally, our own research has shown that physicians who perceive low organizational support have significantly higher odds of burnout and are less professionally fulfilled. The fact that this survey included 186 physicians and still found widespread dissatisfaction reinforces that these are not isolated experiences but systemic workforce issues.
“As a practicing general internist, I can also say that these results confirm what I am hearing from health care workers on the ground—we are stressed, stretched, and seeking change. It’s a call to action for organizations to double down on strategies to improve the work environment and support their workforce.”
Q2: Why do you think so many health care workers are actively seeking to leave their current roles?
“Our research shows that when physicians are overworked and feel undervalued or unsupported by their organization, they are significantly more likely to report burnout and intend to leave their current job. Research has shown that physicians who are burned out are twice as likely to leave their current employer in comparison to physicians who are not burned out. Additionally, physicians who are burned out are much more likely to cut back on the time they spend taking care of patients. In fact, roughly 40 percent of physicians said in a 2022 national survey that they plan to reduce clinical hours—more than double the rate from a decade ago. This has profound implications. It has been estimated that physician turnover and reduction in clinical hours attributable to burnout is costing the U.S. $4.6 billion a year.
“Creating an environment where health care workers have a sustainable workload, feel valued, and have a voice in decision-making is essential to retaining them.”
Q3: Are these issues worse this year?
“The workforce challenges are not new—burnout and attrition risk have been rising for more than a decade—but they worsened dramatically during COVID-19. Physician burnout reached its highest level in late 2021, coinciding with the most severe pandemic stressors. While we’ve seen improvement since then, rates remain significantly above pre-pandemic levels and higher than the general workforce.”
Q4: What impacts do you think this will have more broadly on the health care industry?
“If over half of health care workers are considering leaving, we will face even greater workforce shortages, increased costs from turnover, and declines in patient access and quality of care. High turnover disrupts team cohesion and continuity of care—both of which can negatively impact patient outcomes.
“This is both a challenge and an opportunity. On the positive side, this crisis could catalyze health care organizations to redesign workflows, reduce administrative burdens, and invest in leadership development, peer support, coaching, and career growth opportunities—interventions shown to improve professional fulfillment and mitigate burnout. By addressing root causes—from administrative burden to work design—organizations can not only stem the tide of attrition but also improve patient care.”