The Great Discontent - Emerging Nurse Leader

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

A new Gallup research analysis finds that 48% of America’s working population is actively job searching or watching for opportunities. Healthcare systems are not immune from this trend and now face staggering numbers of resignations each week with no signs of a slowdown. Although this trend is called the great resignation, Gallup data now shows that it is less about pay and more about working conditions. It is more about discontent with one’s work than any other factor. Gallup cautions that attributing today’s record-high quit rate to pay issues overlooks the bigger picture of what is happening in the workplace worldwide. For decades, wages for frontline staff have remained relatively stagnant and productivity expectations have continued to mount. Dissatisfaction with working conditions has grown.

The pandemic changed the way nurses view their work. Many now reflect on what a quality job feels like and realize how unhappy and burned out they have become in their work. They also see minimal discussion about improving nursing working conditions and workload. Many nurses talk about feeling dispensable and realize the personal sacrifices made during COVID with little acknowledgment.

It is interesting that when I review the comments of travel nurses on Reddit forums – they often talk about the poor working conditions in nursing environments. A typical comment is that if I am going to work this hard with so little joy in the work – I may as well receive 3-6X the pay to do it…..at least I can leave after 13 weeks. Very little is written about patients or their families. Some travel nurses openly acknowledge that they have lost their empathy and are not sure they will ever get it back.

Gallup has found that the highest quit rate is among not engaged and actively disengaged workers. As Press Gainey recently reported – disengagement among nurses has roughly doubled during the pandemic, so high quit rates are not surprising. With most nurses now not actively engaged in their work, new graduates arrive on units joining a less engaged team. They are then at a much higher risk of feeling disconnected and will probably exit much sooner than desired. Gallup’s research indicated that teams with low engagement have a turnover rate 18-43% higher than engaged teams. We are perpetuating a vicious cycle of turnover in many healthcare environments.

Reversing the tide on this intense discontent among nurses will take more than increasing pay. Generation Z and Millennial Nurses will not be silenced – they actively share their dissatisfaction on social media sites and offer one another advice. They have the upper hand in this staffing conundrum and seem to know it. Unlike Baby Boomers and Generation X, they are not afraid to resign even when they don’t have another job in place. Reporters are interested in nursing stories because they tell me they sense a revolution in healthcare coming and it will come from the bottom – not the top. Without substantive change – the discontent will continue along with the resignations.

References

Gandhi V. & Robison J. (Gallup Blog – July 22nd, 2021). The Great Resignation is Really the Great Discontent.

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