Nursa Survey Finds 98% of Hospital CFOs View Nurse Staffing as Top Challenge

Survey results offer insight into C-suite perspectives on workforce trends and financial impact

SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nursa, a nationwide platform that exists to put a nurse at the bedside of every patient in need, today released the results of a survey with healthcare decision-makers that examines their perspectives on the evolving social contract of employment, opinions on the 1099 workforce, and reflections on what makes a nurse truly valuable to an organization.

Key findings from the survey include:

• 98% of CFOs viewed nurse staffing as a significant challenge for their health system
• 86% of health systems had 10% or more of their nurse staff quit in 2023 even though
• 77% of CFOs indicated they increased the starting wages for nurses by at least 20% in the past two years
• Contract nurse volume more than doubled from 2019 to 2023
• 93% of health leaders do not believe nurses employed by a health system are more valuable than an independent contractor

With an estimated shortage of 200,000 to 450,000 nurses in the United States, staffing challenges are a top concern for health system executives. The survey indicates that the issue is both immediate and long-term and will require a nimble solution to address foreseeably consistent staffing problems.

“The perceived staffing shortage existed long before the pandemic, but the recent public health emergency added a significant amount of stress to an already weary nursing workforce,” said Nursa CEO and Founder Curtis Anderson. “The survey findings highlight that health executives understand the complex layers leading to the crisis – nurse dissatisfaction, wages, large administrative workloads, etc. – but are employing reactive strategies that still don’t cover all gaps in frontline care staffing. These insights support what we at Nursa know to be true – that a tech-enabled, diversified approach is essential to finding the right formula to improve recruitment, retention and job satisfaction.”

While the majority of survey respondents agreed that there is no “magic bullet” to solving nursing staffing challenges, most felt that technology provides a pathway to improvement. Overall, the executives were careful to highlight that leveraging technology would not replace nurses but allow for better connections between patients and clinicians.

The survey was commissioned by Nursa and conducted by Eliciting Insights in late 2023 in two phases, including qualitative interviews with CFOs and CNOs and a quantitative survey which yielded responses from 203 health system executives.

To view additional insights from this survey, read the full report here.

About Nursa™

Nursa is a nationwide platform that exists to put a nurse at the bedside of every patient in need quickly and safely, removing the financial strain and operational gaps of traditional staffing methods. Nursa’s real-time technology enables hospitals, health systems, skilled nursing facilities and community organizations to easily secure qualified, local nursing talent for per diem shifts. Founded in 2019 and built on the bedrock granite of Lake Bonneville in Salt Lake City, Nursa is trusted by a growing community of more than 1,500 facilities and 229,000 nurses nationwide and is accredited by The Joint Commission. For more information, visit Nursa.com.