Nursing engagement improves while early-career nurse departures persist at alarming rates

Press Ganey's State of Nursing 2026 reveals engagement is stabilizing, but variation across roles and generations is sustaining turnover risk and demands urgent, targeted action

Press Ganey, a leading provider of experience measurement, data analytics, and AI-powered insights to health systems and health plans, today released the findings of its annual signature report, State of Nursing 2026. Drawing on one of the largest and most comprehensive nursing datasets in the industry, spanning more than 500,000 nurses and advanced practice providers (APPs), the report shows while engagement has begun to stabilize, the recovery is fragile and uneven.

Early-career nurse attrition remains critical. One in five early-career nurses are departing their organizations, creating ongoing threat to long-term workforce stability as Millennials and Gen Z represent an increasing share of the workforce.

Progress in engagement improvement is not being felt equally, and that disparity is driving risk. The data reveals meaningful differences and widening gaps across roles, generations, and care environments. This variation underscores that broad, one-size-fits-all strategies are no longer sufficient to retain and support the workforce.

Despite the signs of stabilization, overall turnover remains elevated at approximately 17% for registered nurses, and workforce strain continues to erode resilience. One in four RNs and more than one-third of APPs report difficulty disconnecting from work, underscoring the ongoing impact of workload and recovery on retention.

A 'three hospital system,' explored recently in Press Ganey's State of Healthcare Safety Signature Report, is emerging where differences across day, night, and weekend shifts undermine consistency in the care experience. Nurses working nights and weekends report significantly lower perceptions of safety culture, teamwork, and organizational support compared to their daytime counterparts.

Taken together, these findings signal a critical inflection point for healthcare leaders: Stabilization alone will not secure the workforce. Sustained progress will depend on targeted, role- and generation-specific strategies that address distinct needs of nurses across career stages and care settings. Early warning signs of turnover risk-disengagement, silence, and declining trust-are emerging within the first few years of tenure, reinforcing the need for earlier and more proactive intervention.

"The organizations making the most progress are those that are intentionally designing environments where nurses and APPs can thrive," said Jeffrey N. Doucette, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FACHE, FAAN, Chief Nursing Officer at Press Ganey. "While conditions are improving, we continue to see real pressure on early-career nurses and across shifts. Closing those gaps requires strengthening leadership presence, rethinking workflow and staffing models, and ensuring that support is consistent, regardless of where care is delivered."

Organizations that act decisively to address these structural and experiential gaps will be best positioned to achieve long-term workforce stability, retain top talent, and deliver consistently high-quality care.

Download State of Nursing 2026 to explore national benchmarks and data-driven strategies to strengthen workforce stability and performance.

About Press Ganey

Press Ganey is a leading global provider of experience technology, data analytics, and insights that help companies better understand and serve their customers, employees, and stakeholders. Press Ganey powers the Human Experience (HX) Platform - a comprehensive experience and research technology platform that brings together CX (Customer Experience), Employee Experience (EX), Patient Experience (PX) and Market Research. It serves more than 43,000 clients globally across healthcare, financial services, hospitality, market research, professional services, retail, and technology. Press Ganey is recognized by Gartner^® as a Leader in the Magic Quadrant™ for Voice of the Customer (VoC) Platforms.

About the Press Ganey Signature Report Series

The Press Ganey Signature Report Series defines the annual conversation around human experience and performance across industries. Powered by one of the most expansive and integrated primary data ecosystems in the market, the series draws on millions of employee, consumer, member, and customer voices, alongside operational and outcomes data, to uncover the system-level forces shaping trust, loyalty, safety, and engagement. By connecting experience, culture, and performance at scale, Press Ganey provides a uniquely comprehensive view of the forces shaping outcomes across industries.

In healthcare, Press Ganey draws on one of the industry's most comprehensive and integrated data sets, spanning safety culture, workforce engagement, patient experience, clinical outcomes, and the nation's largest Patient Safety Organization.

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