And why patchwork solutions won’t fix what’s broken

By: Debbie Reid | Think What Works

The headlines keep warning us: “The U.S. is running out of nurses.”
But let’s be honest —we’ve been here before.

As someone who climbed the ladder from vocational nursing to registered nurse, I’ve seen this so-called shortage unfold more than once. I've lived through the cycles of hiring booms, layoffs, staffing shortages, and crisis-level burnout. While the media is just now catching up, those of us who have experienced this crisis know that it didn't start overnight and that immigration pipelines or military medic substitutions won't solve it.

Let’s go deeper than the headlines.

👩‍⚕️ The Real Story Behind the “Nursing Shortage”

Yes, the population is aging. Yes, more nurses are leaving. But the real question isn’t, “Where did the nurses go?” — It’s “Why are they choosing to walk away?”

According to the 2024 National Nursing Workforce Survey, over 40% of nurses plan to leave the profession by 2030. However, don't let simplistic responses such as retirement or declining school enrollment deceive you.

Here’s what the survey found:

• 56% feel a “sense of depletion.”

• 51% report emotional exhaustion

• 50% experience chronic fatigue

• 45% are suffering burnout

This isn’t just tiredness — it’s the toll of being overworked, undervalued, and emotionally drained in a system that continues to ask for more while giving less.

🧠 Burnout Isn't a Personal Problem — It’s a Systemic One

The media often treats burnout like an unfortunate side effect — as if it’s something all jobs experience and nothing can be done.

But nursing burnout isn’t a matter of personal resilience. It’s the result of:

• Unsafe staffing ratios

• Endless shifts without breaks

• Exposure to trauma and death with no time to process

• Lack of support from leadership

• Being asked to do more with less every single day

When COVID hit, nurses answered the call. Many worked 60+ hours a week in unsafe conditions. Then came the mandates, staffing cuts, and, in some cases, public backlash. That’s not just burnout — that’s betrayal.

“We fought through the worst days of the pandemic, only to be discarded when mandates came down. It wasn’t burnout—it was betrayal.”
— Former RN, 2021

🩺 Veterans, Medics, and Fast-Track Fixes: Not the Answer

A recent article suggested a potential solution. Let military medics fill vacant nursing roles.

Let me be clear: I have deep respect for military medics. They bring valuable skills and experience to the healthcare system. But treating their training as interchangeable with licensed nursing care is both misleading and dangerous.

Military medics often lack:

• Chronic care management experience

• Patient education training

• Documentation and compliance skills required in civilian hospitals

• Exposure to long-term, holistic care models

We need structured career pathways, not shortcuts. Let’s honor their service with a system that supports them in nursing—setting them up for success in healthcare.

🌍 Immigrant Nurses Are Essential — But It’s Not a Cure-All

Another band-aid solution? Immigration.

Foreign-trained nurses have long supported our workforce. But many enter with different educational standards. Some bachelor’s degrees from other countries don’t equate to the clinical rigor of U.S. programs. That matters — for safety, for licensing, and for patient care.

Beyond that, throwing more nurses into a broken system doesn’t fix what made the U.S. nurses leave in the first place. Importing labor is not a sustainable solution when we can’t even retain our own.

🔁 This Isn’t New — It’s Just the Worst It’s Ever Been

Layoffs. Budget cuts. “Shortages.”

These trends aren’t new—they’ve cycled through hospitals for decades.

But this moment is different. This time, nurses aren’t just leaving jobs —they’re leaving the profession. Why? It no longer provides stability, respect, or safe patient care.

Nurses face blame when hospitals close. But look deeper, and you’ll see:

• Profits prioritized over staffing

• Executive salaries ballooning while bedside nurses are stretched thin

• Facilities consolidating and leaving rural areas behind

• We also have to account for nurses who move on to NP (nurse practitioners), Physician Assistants and nurse anesthetists

This isn’t about a lack of nurses. This is about a healthcare system built to squeeze profit, not sustain care.

💡 What Will Work? Real Solutions That Value Nurses

Here’s what we should be talking about:

✅ Mandatory safe staffing ratios—proven to reduce burnout and improve outcomes
✅ Tuition forgiveness and bridge programs—Help LPNs, medics, and CNAs advance
✅ Retention bonuses, not just sign-on perks— Keep experienced nurses at the bedside
✅ Mental health support and leadership reform—End toxic workplaces that push nurses out
✅ Career advancement without gatekeeping—credit real-world experience in education

✊ Healthcare Can’t Heal Without Its Nurses

I didn’t write this to complain. I penned this because I believe that the nurses who remain deserve better treatment, and those who have departed should also receive attention.

If we want to preserve the future of American healthcare, we must stop treating nurses like a line item on a spreadsheet and start treating them like the critical professionals they are.

Nurses don’t just hold hands and take vitals. We are the eyes, ears, hands, and heart of patient care.

If we want a healthcare system that works for nurses, we need to build one.

All of this needs to be considered, and we need to move from sick care to well care. This requires a complete overhaul of the healthcare industry.