By Paige Twenter

In a reversal of a three-year trend, job satisfaction among nurses is declining and more are considering leaving the profession, according to a recent survey of 2,090 nurses.

An educational website focused on the nursing profession, surveyed its audience of active nurses and nursing students in February and March. Because the respondents are the website's audience, the organization said April 6 the survey results are not a nationally representative sample.

This survey has been conducted annually since 2022 to track national trends in job satisfaction, burnout and other workforce trends. Here are five key findings from this year’s survey:

1. Plans to leave: Twenty-three percent of nurses said they are at least somewhat likely to leave the profession within the next year.

2. Job satisfaction: In the 2026 survey, 47% of nurses said they were satisfied with work, representing a decrease from the 55% who said the same in 2025.

While the percentage is an improvement from the 2022 survey — when 28% expressed satisfaction — the 2026 results show a stress signal for the future nursing workforce. The least satisfied group was nursing students currently in the workforce, as 18% rated their job a 4 or 5 out of 5.

3. What’s retaining bedside nurses: Approximately 2 in 5 respondents selected financial necessity as a reason they are staying at the bedside despite wanting to leave. Other common reasons include schedule convenience (32%), commitment to patient care (28%) and workplace relationships (24%). Nurses could select up to three choices.

Eight percent cited good management or leadership support as a reason to stay on the job, the survey found.

“Nearly a quarter of nurses staying at the bedside say they’re waiting for a planned career transition or retirement (23%),”. “The picture this creates is of a workforce that, for many, is staying not because they want to but because they have to. That’s a fragile foundation for retention.”

4. Financial stability: Although 55% of respondents said their compensation increased between 2025 and 2026, 37% said they would go into debt if an unexpected $1,000 expense appeared.

More than one-third (37%) said financial strain has prompted them to work extra shifts or overtime, 15% said they have taken a second job and 8% said financial stress has prompted considerations to leave bedside nursing.

5. Workplace violence: Since the organization’s 2022 survey, reported rates of workplace violence have not improved.

In this year’s survey, 52% of nurses said they have experienced verbal threats or aggressive language in the past year, 27% reported physical assault and 10% reported sexual harassment.

Overall, nurses remain passionate about their profession but poor workplace conditions “are pushing the needle in the wrong direction again.”

“None of these shifts is catastrophic on its own. But taken together, they suggest that the structural problems facing nursing were not resolved by the brief period of recovery that followed the pandemic. They were, at best, partially and temporarily eased,” the organization said.