By Nicholas Wyman

Nurses know how to manage chaos, make hard calls, and keep people alive under pressure.

So, it's no surprise that thousands of these professionals are stepping back and asking, 'What's next?' The cracks in the system existed before COVID-19, and now, they're impossible to ignore.

But here's the thing: walking away from the floor doesn't mean abandoning purpose. The skills nurses bring, including clinical judgment, empathy, process thinking, are exactly what's needed in digital health, care navigation, and healthcare innovation roles, and many other sectors. I believe that career growth today is less about climbing the ladder and more about pivoting.

Nurses aren't quitting; rather, they're repositioning. In fact, the care economy of nursing, early childcare, and mental health is a growth sector requiring workforce development and new training pathways.

Why Thousands of Nurses Are Reconsidering Their Careers

The exodus of nurses from the profession is accelerating, with more than 138,000 having left since 2022 and nearly 40% more planning to exit by 2029.

This isn’t about work ethic. Nurses are among the most resilient professionals in the workforce. The fundamental drivers for leaving are systemic:

• Chronic understaffing

• Excessive workloads, including administrative

• Emotional exhaustion

• A sense of being undervalued

• Poor management and support

• Workplace violence/bullying

• Limited opportunities for advancement

• A fear of litigation and legal pressures

• Physical health risks.

As one nurse shared on social media: "I used to love nursing, but after years of 12-hour shifts with no breaks and constant understaffing, I just couldn't do it anymore."

These are professionals who have delivered, adapted, and perhaps even led in high-stakes environments, often with little support.

What Former Nurses Bring to the Table—And Why Employers Should Pay Attention

Nurses offer far more than most entry-level hires. Their transferable skills include:

• Crisis management and rapid decision-making

• Empathy-based leadership and multi-stakeholder coordination

• Compliance, accountability, and process thinking

• Communication under pressure and teamwork

• Adaptability, resilience, and optimism

• Clinical expertise in patient care and medical procedures

• Time management in high-pressure environments

• Technical proficiency with medical technologies and digital systems.

These are not just technical skills; they are the backbone of high-performing teams in any industry. Technical skills are constantly changing. People skills are often the skills that help someone get and keep the job.

Personal attributes such as resilience and adaptability enable nurses to transition and thrive in new environments.

10 Industries Where Former Nurses Are Thriving

The myth that nurses are only suited for clinical roles is outdated. Today, former nurses are thriving in roles across health tech, care navigation, insurance, policy, research, and more. These career transitions are increasingly common, with many of the fastest-growing options highlighted by NurseJournal, Find My Profession, and Indeed Career Guide.

1. Health Tech and Informatics: Clinical insight, user-centered design, systems thinking

2. Care Navigation/Advocacy: Patient education, navigating complex systems, advocacy across services

3. Insurance and Risk Management: Regulatory compliance, risk assessment and analysis, clear communication

4. Public Health and Policy: Data interpretation, program design and leadership, strategy

5. Medical Sales/Education: Clinical credibility, relationship building, persuasive communication

6. Clinical Research: Protocol adherence, data precision, cross-disciplinary teamwork

7. Legal Consulting: Medical expertise, documentation review, analytical reasoning

8. Occupational Health: Workplace safety, wellness promotion, process improvement

9. Education and Training: Mentorship, curriculum development, instructional delivery, such as for career and technical education

10. Workforce Development/Operations: Team coordination, onboarding, mentoring apprentices and trainees

Many nurses who have made the leap from the profession report a renewed sense of satisfaction and balance in their new roles. As one former nurse shared on Reddit:

"Transitioned to a 9-to-5 job outside of healthcare, and I've never been happier"

Another ex-nurse on Reddit beamed: "Me. I switched it up last year to disability claims management and love it."

How Nurses Can Successfully Transition Into New Careers

Transitioning out of nursing isn’t just about swapping uniforms. It demands upskilling and reskilling—many nurses pursue certifications or micro-credentials to bridge knowledge gaps and signal readiness for new fields. Mentorship and structured onboarding—pairing career changers with mentors, not just manuals—accelerates integration and learning. And it’s also worth noting: employers who focus on what candidates can do, rather than where they’ve done it, are best positioned to benefit from this talent pool. As I've seen in workforce development programs when nurses are shown a clear path to advancement, their motivation and retention soar.

What’s Holding Nurses — And Employers — Back?

The biggest obstacle isn't a lack of ability; it's a lack of imagination. Too many organizations still cling to rigid job descriptions and outdated notions of "fit," missing out on candidates who have already proven their value in high-stakes environments.

I’d encourage employers to reevaluate degree and tenure requirements, and to place greater value on adaptability, resilience, and emotional intelligence. Just as important is building structured pathways—such as apprenticeships and supported onboarding—into non-clinical roles. And let's address the elephant in the room.

Just because nurses are used to high-stakes situations doesn't mean they're chasing chaos in their next career. Many have normalized working under pressure—triaging emergencies, making critical decisions, and managing emotional intensity. Walking away from that environment can come with a sense of loss—not just for the role itself, but for the deep identity and purpose it once provided.

We know from workforce research that mission-driven professionals, such as nurses, often experience a form of disorientation when transitioning into roles with less urgency or public recognition. But let's be clear: they're not looking to replicate the stress - they're looking to transfer their impact. They want to apply their skills in ways that matter without burning out.

That's a wake-up call for employers. Former nurses bring composure, empathy, and razor-sharp decision-making skills honed in crisis, but these are deeply valuable across industries. If you're struggling to find capable people and overlooking this group, maybe it's not a talent shortage you're facing. Perhaps it's a vision gap.

The Case For Hiring Nurses: A Strategic Talent Move

Bringing former nurses into your organization is a strategic move. They bring lower turnover and higher engagement—nurses are drawn to purpose-driven work and tend to stay loyal when their values align with the mission. They also bring emotional intelligence and systems thinking, both essential for navigating today’s complex, people-centric workplaces. And their proven leadership and crisis management experience—having led teams and made life-or-death decisions—translates powerfully into business, tech, and beyond. The care economy is growing, but so is the need for organizations across all sectors to recognize the unique value nurses offer.

The Bottom Line For Employers

Nurses aren’t leaving because they’re defeated; they're leaving because they're ready for new challenges and greater recognition. To close your workforce gaps, don't just look for the 'perfect résumé.' Look for proven talent, like the nurse who kept their cool when it mattered most.

If you want to future-proof your team, it’surses know how to manage chaos, make hard calls, and keep people alive under p