Addressing Registered Nurse Shortages in Hospitals

In January 2024, ACHE conducted a survey of hospital leaders to learn more about causes of shortages and how hospitals are addressing them. Of the 1,633 who received the survey, 350 responded for an overall response rate of 21%.

Hospital CEOs were asked to name the top three staffing shortages they were experiencing. They reported their top staffing shortages as follows: 71% of responses indicated a shortage of registered nurses, 50% identified a lack of medical technicians and 35% mentioned a shortage of physicians. Among physicians, 18% specified a shortage of specialists and 17% of primary care physicians.

The reason for registered nurse shortages in hospitals, as reported by survey respondents, are listed in Table 1. The most common ways in which hospitals are addressing these shortages are listed in Table 2.

ACHE wishes to thank the leaders who responded to this survey for their time, consideration, and service to their profession and to healthcare leadership research.

Table 1. Reasons for registered nurse staffing shortages.

Table 2. How organizations are addressing registered nurse staffing shortages.