Abstract
IMPORTANCE Clinician burnout is a major risk to the health of the US. Nurses make up most of the health care workforce, and estimating nursing burnout and associated factors is vital for addressing the causes of burnout.
OBJECTIVE To measure rates of nurse burnout and examine factors associated with leaving or considering leaving employment owing to burnout. DESIGN,
SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This secondary analysis used cross-sectional survey data collected from April 30 to October 12, 2018, in the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses in the US. All nurses who responded were included (N = 50 273). Data were analyzed from June 5 to October 1, 2020.
EXPOSURES Age, sex, race and ethnicity categorized by self-reported survey question, household income, and geographic region. Data were stratified by workplace setting, hours worked, and dominant function (direct patient care, other function, no dominant function) at work.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcomes were the likelihood of leaving employment in the last year owing to burnout or considering leaving employment owing to burnout.
RESULTS The weighted sample of 50 273 respondents (representing 3 957 661 nurses nationally) was predominantly female (90.4%) and White (80.7%); the mean (SD) age was 48.7 (0.04) years. Among nurses who reported leaving their job in 2017 (n = 418 769), 31.5%reported burnout as a reason, with lower proportions of nurses reporting burnout in theWest (16.6%) and higher proportions in the Southeast (30.0%). Compared with working less than 20 h/wk, nurses who worked more than 40 h/wk had a higher likelihood identifying burnout as a reason they left their job (odds ratio, 3.28; 95%CI, 1.61-6.67). Respondents who reported leaving or considering leaving their job owing to burnout reported a stressful work environment (68.6%and 59.5%, respectively) and inadequate staffing (63.0%and 60.9%, respectively).
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE These findings suggest that burnout is a significant problem among US nurses who leave their job or consider leaving their job. Health systems should focus on implementing known strategies to alleviate burnout, including adequate nurse staffing and limiting the number of hours worked per shift.
Notes
Open Access Details:
This is an open access article originally published under the terms of a Creative Commons License, which permits the Sigma Repository to post a copy in its collections. The license is attached to this item record; please click on the license for further details.
Original Article Citation:
Shah, M. K., Gandrakota, N., Cimiotti, J. P., Ghose, N., Moore, M., & Ali, M. K. (2021). Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Nurse Burnout in the US. JAMA network open, 4(2), e2036469. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.36469
No changes have been made to this article.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Lead Author Affiliation
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Type
Article
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Cross-Sectional
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Clinician Burnout, Burnout, Registered Nurses, Work Environment, United States
Recommended Citation
Shah, Megha K.; Gandrakota, Nikhila; Cimiotti, Jeannie P.; Ghose, Neena; Moore, Miranda; and Ali, Mohammed K., "Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Nurse Burnout in the US" (2026). Individual Articles. 46.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/individual_articles/46
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publisher
American Medical Association
Version
Publisher's Version
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Review Type
External Review: Previously Published Material
Acquisition
Indexed Previously Published Material (Per Creative Commons License)
Date of Issue
2026-01-13
Funder(s)
National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities; Agency for Healthcare Research and QUality, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Full Text of Presentation
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Description
This study was supported by grant K23MD015088-01 from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (Dr Shah), grant R01HS026232 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (Dr Cimiotti), and in part by the Georgia Center for Diabetes Translation Research, funded by grant P30DK111024 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (Dr Ali).