Medscape Survey Finds Large Percentages of Nurses Burning Out in Pandemic

Jan. 5, 2022

A nationwide survey of nurses by Medscape has found that nurse burnout increased dramatically during the first six month of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic deepened and broadened

Mark Hagland

Nursing burnout, already a concern before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in early 2020, has become a deeper concern for the senior leaders of hospitals and health systems.

As a Dec. 24 article by Marcia Frellick of Medscape notes, “Nurses and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), when asked to rate their burnout before the pandemic and 6 months into it, reported levels that in some cases have quadrupled.” Indeed, she writes, “The Medscape Nurse Career Satisfaction Report 2020 received responses from 10,424 nurses and APRNs in the United States and shows that in every group, more nurses rated themselves as very or somewhat burned out compared with the pre-pandemic period. Definitions of burnout may vary widely among the nurse groups, but change in the highest levels of reported burnout was particularly striking.” The report was written by Laura A. Stokowski, R.N., M.S.; Daniela Bastida; Mary McBride; and Emily Barry, and was released on Dec. 24.

Frellick noted in her article that “Most respondents, by the end of the summer, had cared for COVID-19 patients. CRNAs were the group most likely to have treated COVID-19 patients (73 percent) and CNSs were the least likely (38 percent).”

And, when it comes to burnout, here are the numbers. Asked whether they were burned out before the pandemic, or burned out six months in, 4 percent of registered nurses were burned out before the pandemic, but 18 percent had become burned out six months in. The results for licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and nurse midwives were as follows: 6 percent and 20 percent; 5 percent and 13 percent; 3 percent and 12 percent; 3 percent and 10 percent; and 5 percent and 13 percent.

And, Frellick wrote, “Survey authors note that those burnout numbers came in the summer, before the crush of patients in the fall began overwhelming hospitals nationwide.”

Among numerous other findings, “Nurses working in inpatient hospital care were the most likely to see COVID-19 patients (76 percent), followed by nurses at retail clinics (59 percent).” And, “Among nurses providing care for COVID-19 patients, LPNs were the group most likely to test positive (10 percent). Nurses working in long-term care facilities were much more likely to test positive (11 percent) than nurses in other settings (4 percent).”