More than one-third of registered nurses are considering leaving their jobs, according to a survey released this week by the American Association of International Healthcare Recruitment.

Thirty-six percent of respondents said they have or are considering leaving the bedside, and 75% said they experienced extreme stress or anxiety over the previous year.

The survey also found 59% of registered nurses knew a nurse in their unit or hospital who was exposed to Covid-19 on the job and became seriously ill; one-in-five knew a fellow nurse that died from Covid-19. In addition, 60% of respondents reported that nurse-to-patient ratios have risen to unsafe levels in the last year.

Even before the pandemic, emergency and critical care nurses were among the most in-demand in the healthcare sector.

"The availability of nurses was the preeminent concern for hospital administrators long before the coronavirus,” said AAIHR President Shari Costantini. “But one year into the pandemic, the confluence of a historic staffing shortage with unprecedented workforce demands and emotional burnout is leaving patient bedsides unattended in virtually every pocket of the country.”

The nationwide survey included more than 1,000 registered nurses working for member companies of the AAIHR. It was conducted from March 9 to March 26.