The US workforce had more than 4 million registered nurses, licensed practical/vocational nurses and advanced practice registered nurses in 2023, an analysis released in November by the Health Resources and Services Administration reported. Nursing is the nation’s largest healthcare profession, but concerns about shortages continue.

An aging US population and workforce — the average age of RNs in the US is 43.4 years old — could worsen the shortage, according to the report. And exit rates for healthcare workers remain higher post-pandemic than they were prior to the pandemic.

The report cites data from the National Center for Health Workforce Analysts that projects a 6% shortage of RNs nationwide and a 13% shortage in nonmetro areas in 2037. It also reported that demand for LPNs is projected to grow faster than supply between 2022 and 2037, resulting in a projected shortage of 302,440 LPN full-time equivalents (a 36% shortage) in 2037.

Burnout remains a challenge as well, with the pandemic exacerbating the issue. The report cited a 2022 survey by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing that found 45% of RNs and 45% of LPNs experience feelings of burnout at least a few times a week.

Burnout was seen by other organizations studying nurses as well. A report released earlier this year by Nurse.org found that 57% of nurses felt burnout in 2023, though that was down from 81% in 2022 and 87% in 2021.

SIA also released a report in December 2023 that touched on burnout among travel nurses: Beyond the Surge: Shaping the Future of Travel Nursing in a Post-Pandemic World.

Operating at Top of License

Patti Artley, chief clinical officer and chief nursing officer at Medical Solutions, wrote about nurse burnout and how working at top of license might help reduce it in a Staffing Stream article in November.

Practicing at the top of their license means enabling nurses to practice their skills, assessments and things that they’ve been trained to do as opposed to tasks that others could do such as feeding patients, which can be done by a patient-care tech, Artley said in an interview with SIA. There is a level of frustration when nurses can’t handle the tasks that they were trained to do, and that can lead to burnout and nurses leaving the profession.

Staffing firms can take steps to ensure nurses are working at top of license.

“They really have to understand what the challenges are in each one of their areas because every hospital, even right down to every unit, can be a little bit different,” Artley said. “You can have a hospital have half of their units practicing really well and functioning really well and others that aren’t.”

Medical Solutions conducts surveys of its travelers to understand what is happening with each of its client. Results are shared with clients during quarterly business reviews to help them understand what is happening.

Looking Ahead

The Health Resources and Services Administration also looked at people entering the profession.

“A strong pipeline of new graduates is crucial to ensuring the future of the nursing profession,” according to the report.

It noted the number of candidates taking the National Council Licensure Examination for RNs increased in each of the last five years, to 358,998 in 2023 from 252,311 in 2019.

While pass rates declined from 2019 to 2022, they increased in 2023, according to the report. Additionally, the number of newly licensed RNs continues to increase, rising to 250,078 in 2023 from 183,682 in 2019.