The 2026 State of Nursing survey of 2,090 nurses paints a worrying picture:
- 48% say their mental health or stress is worse than last year.
- 43% are likely to leave the bedside within a year, and about 1 in 4 may leave nursing altogether.
- 42% say staffing on their unit is worse.
- Job satisfaction fell to 47%, from 55% in 2025.
- Yet 68% are still glad they became nurses.
Signs of burnout
- Exhaustion that sleep and days off don’t fix.
- Cynicism or detachment: patients start to feel like tasks, and you feel numb.
- Reduced sense of achievement: feeling that nothing you do makes a difference.
- Irritability, poor sleep, headaches, more sick days, dreading every shift.
What actually helps
- Name it early. Tell a trusted colleague, supervisor or occupational health service.
- Protect your breaks and days off. Skipping breaks to “help the team” is how burnout builds.
- Debrief after hard shifts, especially after deaths or violent incidents.
- Escalate unsafe staffing in writing. It shifts responsibility to where it belongs.
- Change the setting, not the profession. A move to another unit, community nursing, education or a specialty often restores meaning.
- Get professional help if you feel hopeless or have thoughts of harming yourself. Contact your doctor, an employee assistance programme or a local crisis line.
For managers
Retention comes from safe staffing, fair pay, flexible rostering and leaders who act when nurses report problems. Our 2026 turnover report shows what that costs when it goes wrong.
Source: Nurse.org 2026 State of Nursing Survey (April 2026). The sample is drawn from Nurse.org’s audience and is not nationally representative.