The Cost of Nurse Turnover

Nurses do incredibly important work in high-pressure conditions. However, due to the levels of stress experienced by many nurses, the industry has an exceptionally high turnover rate. As well as impacting care delivery and staffing levels, the turnover rates in American hospitals costs healthcare organizations millions of dollars.

Reducing nurse turnover is therefore incredibly important for a hospital's bottom line as well as its patient care. Finding ways to address existing issues and improve staff retention rates could help hospitals to save money and offer their patients the level of attention they really deserve.

With this in mind, I have compiled 24 key stats to help you and your organization grasp the bigger picture. Explore some of these important figures below, and learn more about turnover, nurse recruitment, and how to improve retention rates here.

Want the quick answers? Explore our Nurse Turnover Cost FAQ for a focused breakdown of the numbers that matter most.

24 Key Statistics on Nursing Turnover

With such large numbers of experienced nurses leaving their roles, it's crucial that healthcare organizations can identify how and why turnover is such an issue. I believe that these statistics can help provide some insight into the current state of the industry so that some of the fundamental issues can begin to be addressed.

1. In 2023, the average cost for U.S. hospitals to replace a registered nurse who left (i.e. hire and train a new nurse) was 56,300 U.S. dollars.
2. From 2022 to 2023, average costs rose approximately 7.5 percent.
3. The average turnover rate across the US is between 8.8 % and 37.0%, depending on location and nursing specialty.
4. Up to 54% of nurses worldwide have expressed a desire to leave the profession entirely.
5. In a survey of 7,419 individuals conducted in 2023, nurses reported feelings of being undervalued (48%), overworked (44%), and burnt out (43%) among many other mental health issues.
6. When asked what contributed to nurse burnout, respondents placed staff shortages (11%), poor leadership (9%), and patient load (8%) as the top three factors.
7. In 2024, almost half of hospitals reported a Registered Nurse vacancy rate of more than 10%.
8. The Registered Nurse turnover rate fell to 16.4% in 2024, down from 18.4% in 2023 — still 2.5% higher than pre-pandemic levels.
9. Almost two thirds of Registered Nurses stated that their job was unfulfilling.
10. The average time period required to recruit an experienced Registered Nurse was 86 days in 2024.
11. Up to 800,000 nurses plan to leave the profession by 2027.
12. The turnover rate for nurses employed for less than a year is up to 38%, while those employed for 10 or more years is 11.6%.
13. Financial losses tied to nurse turnover are between $5.2 and $9.0 million per hospital, per year. For a detailed breakdown by cost category, see our guide to the financial impact of nurse turnover.
14. Over a period of five years, an average hospital turns over more than 100% of its staff.
15. In the US, the average age of an RN is 43.6 years old.
16. Since 2016, the average hospital has turned over 90% of its workforce and 83% of its RN staff
17. The annual quit rate for the healthcare industry before the Covid-19 pandemic (2017 to 2020) ranged from 22.2% to 24.7%.
18. The annual quit rate during the Covid-19 pandemic (2021) was 30.4%.
19. Between 35% and 54% of the US nursing and physician workforce reports suffering burnout.
20. Around 38% of those in healthcare jobs will suffer physical violence at some point in their careers.
21. Incremental percentage changes in turnover either costs or saves the average hospital around $262,300.
22. Average pay for registered nurses was less than $63,720 for the lowest 10% and $132,680 for the highest 10%.
23. 23.7% of hospitals stated that it was their aim to reduce turnover by up to 2% in 2024.

Reasons Why Nurses Resign

There are lots of reasons why nurses leave their roles. The most common cited by nurses when resigning are burnout, nursing shortages, injuries and illnesses, work schedules, incivility, and stress. In addition feedback from our clients suggest the following issues are highly influential:

Burnout

Nurse burnout is unfortunately nothing new. Nurses are often required to work long, unsociable hours in difficult conditions. Between 35% and 54% of the US nursing and physician workforce reports suffering burnout and it's a major contributing factor to high RN turnover.

Nursing Shortages

The challenging conditions nurses work in are often exasperated by staffing shortages. According to the 2024 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, the national RN vacancy rate stands at 9.9%, down from its pandemic peak but still requiring hospitals to hire aggressively to fill gaps.

The staffing gap is often plugged in by travel nurses. These temporary healthcare workers cost significantly more than full-time nursing staff, with hospitals in some areas paying up to $250 per hour for a single travel nurse. The high wages currently on offer to travel nurses are tempting more and more registered nurses to leave their roles, further adding to the staffing crisis.

Injuries and Illnesses

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), registered nurses and nursing aides suffer more injuries than almost any other occupation nationwide. A 2013 study found that, while the private sector workforce experienced injuries resulting in days away from work at a rate of 105 cases per 10,000, nursing aides experienced injuries at four times this rate.

Healthcare workers are also more likely to become ill than those working in other professions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals experienced seven times as many severe cases of coronavirus compared to nonessential workers.

Work Schedules

Because patients need care around the clock, nurses are required to work all hours of the day and night. While some nurse leaders may work 9 to 5, the majority of the nursing workforce operates in shifts. These shifts can be scheduled for nights, weekends, evenings, and other unsociable hours, making it difficult for nurses to balance their professional and private lives.

Violence and Aggression

Healthcare professionals experience a high level of violence and aggression in the workplace. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 38% of those in healthcare jobs will suffer physical violence at some point in their careers. This situation appears to be getting worse, with the number of injuries caused by violent attacks increasing by 67% between 2011 and 2018.

In fact, healthcare workers are around 5 times as likely to suffer workplace violence compared to workers overall. Most incidents are unreported, leaving employees to feel it is a part of the job. It is estimated up to 17.1% leave the industry due to not feeling safe. Standard retention strategies that focus only on pay and scheduling miss the cost category that matters most.

See how healthcare organizations are using staff duress systems to reduce violent incidents and improve nurse retention.

Stress

Stress has a significant impact on nursing turnover rates. There are numerous factors that can make nursing stressful including irregular hours, the high-pressure environment, lack of support in the workplace, and the current nursing shortage. Stress can negatively affect both mental and physical health and take a real toll on nurses working in the healthcare system.

How Does Nurse Turnover Impact Your Organization?

A high nurse turnover can impact healthcare organizations in a number of ways. These may include lost wages, medical costs, temporary staffing, overtime pay, turnover costs, and decreased morale and productivity in the workplace.

According to the NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, it takes around three months to replace an experienced RN, and during this time your entire clinic or hospital may struggle to maintain the highest levels of care. Each departure also degrades the safety environment for remaining staff, creating a cascade effect where one resignation accelerates the next. This is why I believe that reducing turnover should be a priority for healthcare providers across the country, particularly when you consider the added value retention contributes—something I look at in more detail below.

Does Nurse Turnover and Retention Contribute to the Value of Nursing?

While the financial costs of turnover are undoubtedly a huge concern for hospitals and health systems, there are many other factors to consider when trying to improve retention. In consultation with our clients, I have compiled this list of benefits that better retention policies and rates can bring to your hospital or clinic.

1. Workplace Morale — Frequent turnover disrupts team cohesion, increasing stress and burnout among remaining nurses, impacting job satisfaction.
2. Patient Care Quality — High turnover leads to less experienced staff, which can reduce the quality of care, patient outcomes, and patient satisfaction.
3. Professional Expertise — Retaining nurses allows for the accumulation of experience, fostering skilled practitioners who can mentor others and contribute to best practices.
4. Patient-Nurse Relationships — Consistent staffing allows nurses to build stronger relationships with patients, leading to more personalized and compassionate care.
5. Organizational Stability — Retention creates a stable work environment, fostering trust, reliability, and efficient operations within the healthcare team.
6. Leadership Development — Long-term retention supports the growth of future nurse leaders, essential for maintaining high standards and driving improvements in healthcare delivery.
7. Ethical Care Delivery — Consistent nursing teams are more likely to uphold ethical standards, as they are familiar with hospital policies and patient needs.
8. Innovation in Practice — Retained nurses contribute to innovation and improved healthcare practices and initiatives due to their deeper understanding of the system and the kind of patient care specific to your facility.

What is the Average Cost of Turnover Per Nurse?

According to the 2024 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, the national average cost of turnover per bedside RN is $56,300, a 7.5% increase from the prior year. In behavioral health settings, that number climbs to $61,110 on average and can exceed $100,000 per departure when longer vacancies and agency premiums are factored in. With hospitals losing between $3.9 and $5.8 million annually on RN turnover alone, and every one-percent shift in nurse turnover translating to approximately $262,300 gained or lost, the financial case for retention investment is clear.

How Do You Calculate the Nurse Turnover Rate?

Before you can begin to address nurse turnover and improve staff retention, you first need to calculate the turnover rate in your organization.

You can calculate your facility turnover rate by dividing the total number of separations by the average number of employees (both full-time and part-time) the hospital had during the reporting period. You then multiply this number by 100.

So, for example, if you have 200 nurses and 20 of them left their roles during the previous year, you'd divide 20 by 200 to give 0.1, and then multiply by 100 to give a turnover rate of 10%.

Using this example and the average turnover cost above, that is a staggering cost of nearly a million dollars ($922,000).

What Can Management Do?

There are a number of steps management can take to improve working conditions and reduce nurse turnover. While none of these measures will solve the issue overnight, I have seen how improving the following areas can help to retain existing staff and boost the number of new nurses entering the profession. For a comprehensive walkthrough of the full cost picture and intervention framework, see our nurse turnover cost guide.

Improve Safety

A recent survey of nursing professionals found that 88.9% had experienced violence in the workplace%20reporting%20racial%20discrimination.). Improving security, and making nurses feel safer when they're at work, could help the average hospital to reduce turnover and save money.

In a previous blog post, we discussed ways management can improve hospital safety and security. This can be done by investing in better lighting, more security staff, and more user-friendly communal spaces. These simple measures have been shown to help reduce patient aggression and keep healthcare professionals safe.

Investing in a wireless panic button system, like the wireless panic buttons for healthcare workers that have already been introduced across the country, is another good way of boosting security. Wearable panic button systems allow nurses to silently call for help whenever they feel threatened. As soon as they press their button, their location is sent directly to the security team, allowing help to be summoned as quickly as possible. Peer CNOs who implemented nurse duress systems saw staff perception of safety improve within weeks.

Hire More Nurses

As stress and burnout are two of the main factors affecting nurse turnover, hiring more nurses – and therefore reducing the workload – could help to prevent resignations. The more nurses there are on the hospital floor, the easier it will be for the healthcare team to provide a high level of patient care. A larger workforce also helps to lighten the workload, reduce stress, and improve morale.

While hiring more RNs can seem like an expensive solution, it can actually be a more affordable option when you consider the average cost involved in replacing experienced staff. When you add in the benefits to overall staff morale and patient care, hiring more staff can be a good solution to your nurse staffing issues.

Provide Support

If your human resources department simply doesn't have the budget to hire more staff, management can still help to stem the tide of resignations by offering existing RNs more support. Creating an environment in which nurses feel they have the support of their managers, and where they can ask for help when they feel overwhelmed or unsure, can go a long way to improving working conditions and minimizing turnover.

Offering opportunities for career advancement and specialist training can also help to keep RNs on the job. Most nurses want to be able to fulfill their potential, so it's important to provide pathways to promotion wherever possible.