Over 75% of Canadian nurses burnt out, 42% plan to leave profession, RNAO survey finds
Global News
A new survey conducted by the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) has found that over 75 per cent of Canada's nurses are "burnt out."
A new survey conducted by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) has found that over 75 per cent of Canada’s nurses are “burnt out.”
According to a news release, the RNAO conducted the survey between May and July of 2021, “during the height of Ontario’s third wave” of COVID-19, and collected responses from 5,200 nurses in Canada — most of which were from Ontario.
The report, titled Nursing Through Crisis: A Comparative Perspective, found that more than 75 per cent of Canadian nurses who responded to the survey were classified as “burnt out,” with higher percentages reported among those in hospital and front-line workers.
“This widespread burnout provides some insight about what life is like for a large percentage of Canadian nurses,” the report reads. “It also implies that leaving their position or their profession may be a future reality for these nurses.”
However, when asked, only 26.2 per cent of nurses surveyed said they had taken time off of work to manage stress, anxiety or other mental health issues related to working during the pandemic, or to prevent or deal with burnout.
What’s more, a total of 69 per cent of nurses surveyed said they planned to leave their position within five years.
Of those who said the wanted to leave their position, 42 per cent said they would leave the nursing profession all together, would seek opportunities elsewhere or would retire.
The survey also found that 73 per cent of nurses said their workloads had increased “moderately or significantly” during the COVID-19 pandemic.