The healthcare sector faces significant challenges related to nurse turnover and burnout, which directly impacts patient care quality and system efficiency. Recognizing this, many healthcare systems are increasingly investing in strategies to improve nurse retention and well-being. By addressing these critical issues, organizations aim to create a healthier work environment that enhances staff satisfaction while ensuring high standards of patient care.
This post explores how healthcare systems are prioritizing these investments to tackle burnout and foster a sustainable nursing workforce.
Supporting Nurses to Reduce Turnover
Healthcare systems around the United States have been struggling with high turnover rates; nationally, the turnover rate is approximately 18.3 percent, according to the 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report. Problematically, that high turnover rate is paired with a greater need for nurses, straining hospital systems.
Today’s healthcare administrators and chief nursing officers have approached these issues with a number of different initiatives. The first? A culture shift toward one that puts recognition at the forefront. Simply remembering and recognizing special dates — such as a nurse’s birthday or work anniversary — can make a difference in how a nursing staff member feels.
Other approaches have included promoting the well-being of all nurses through mental health programs, increasing advocacy for nurses in the workplace, and introducing supportive technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to take away some of the administrative burden of the workday.
Promoting Well-Being for All Nurses
With all the challenges that nurses face at work, having someone to talk to can make a world of difference for their mental health. Having an employee support specialist or resources to external mental health support has been shown to be effective, allowing nurses to get the help they need sooner, which can reduce compassion fatigue and burnout. For example, when nurses have gone through a traumatic incident or have something they need to discuss, they’re able to turn to those individuals for support in private, one-on-one settings.
Providing this kind of service doesn’t just look good on paper — it proves itself through results. Promoting better well-being has a positive impact on retention. According to one study of a Well-Being Coaching Initiative, there was a 30% improvement in burnout and stress just by focusing on well-being. That improvement directly correlated to a 30% reduction in turnover, ensuring more nurses stay in the workforce.
In that program, the goal was to teach nurses about compassion, presence, and recovery:
- Compassion: Having compassion for themselves, and encouraging nurses not to be overly critical of themselves
- Presence: Slowing down and being present in the moment, rather than focusing on multiple tasks or unfinished activities.
- Recovery: Taking the time to recover through beloved activities or other things that bring joy.
By taking time to focus on well-being and teaching nurses how to better care for themselves, the program demonstrated to leadership that taking these steps is necessary. Retention rates improved for the healthcare system, and nurses reap the benefits of feeling better too.
Advocating for Nurses in the Workplace
Another approach to improving the field of nursing has been through a push for advocacy. Today, there has been a greater movement toward protecting healthcare workers, and nurses in particular, from workplace violence. This is best seen through the Safety from Violence for Healthcare Employees Act, also known as the SAVE Act.
It is the unfortunate truth that many healthcare professionals are exposed to violence in the workplace, and some may feel they don’t have the support they need to report incidents and get the help they need. However, healthcare leaders can take the lead and advocate for their nurses and healthcare workers. Being able to have legal protections in place means that healthcare workers feel supported and know that if someone does become violent with them in the workplace, they will have somewhere to turn.
Another point of discussion is about the need for improved nurse-to-patient ratios. Panelists of the HealthLeaders CNO Exchange discussed the need for legislation to support mandated staffing ratios, one approach that could help ease the burden on nurses and improve the healthcare environment for all.
Improving Nurse Workflows with AI and Technology
Technology is also opening doors to help nurses in the field. In some places, the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace helps take away some of the stress of the daily tasks nurses have to perform, such as documentation workflows. By doing this, nurses spend less time on administrative tasks and have more time to spend where it really matters — with the patients they care for.
There has also been a push toward virtual nursing, which allows nurses to connect with patients remotely through telehealth platforms and other means. Virtual nursing allows nurses to handle a variety of tasks, such as contacting family members or answering patients’ questions, all from their home or hospital office.
The greatest benefit of virtual nursing is that nurses can work from a centralized location and streamline their work by taking care of tasks that don’t require them to be physically present in the most efficient way possible.
Focusing on the Future of Nursing
Prioritizing nurses helps strengthen the healthcare system. Without them, patient care suffers and healthcare organizations struggle to keep up. To improve the workplace for nurses and patients’ outcomes, healthcare systems need to focus on reducing turnover, advocating for the safety and well-being of nurses, and supporting the essential work that they do.
At Supplemental Health Care, we support nurses receiving the care and support they need, so they can provide the quality patient care that people deserve. Learn more about SHC and how we support nurses to find roles in supportive environments.
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