Here are the Biggest Workforce Challenges in Nursing in 2024

“[They’re] the largest part of the nursing workforce,” Putnam said, “so how do we as individual health systems, hospitals, [and] clinics…listen to our first line nurses?”

“I think frontline sounds like a war zone,” Putnam said, “and I don’t want my nurses to think they’re in a war zone every day, even though it’s very difficult.”

Another hurdle is generational differences. Gen Z nurses who are just now coming into the workforce have different expectations of the job than previous generations have had, and according to Putnam, recruiting Gen Z starts with technology.

“Gen Z-ers are our first truly digitally native generation,” Putnam said. “The technology is important, and I think we have to figure out ways to utilize that in such a way that helps them and utilizes their skill sets.”

Social media, diversity, flexible scheduling, and work-life balance are also top priorities for Gen Z, according to Putnam.

“The Gen Z-ers love work, but they also have other priorities in life,” Putnam said. “Work needs to have purpose, and what better purpose is there than being a nurse?”

Workplace violence

Nurses face a lot on the job, and unfortunately workplace violence continues to be a large issue for nursing workforces in health systems everywhere. According to Szkolnicki, workplace violence impacts the workforce in a fundamental, traumatic way.

“Nurses [face] the emotional toll, the vicarious trauma, because they are feeling what their patient is feeling,” Szkolnicki said. “The fact that our patients and their family members sometimes attack us, maybe even physically…it’s horrible.”

“Gratefully, in a lot of states, they are passing acts to make sure that it’s a felony when you physically attack a nurse,” Szkolnicki said.

For Szkolnicki, it comes down to having the basic need of feeling safe at work.

“We all have a basic need to feel safe where we are,” Szkolnicki said. “It’s something that is very serious and requires a very disciplined and deliberate approach.”

Virtual nursing

The surge in new technology has been a large disruptor in nursing, particularly in the case of virtual nursing. According to Boston-Leary, virtual nursing has been growing exponentially in the past year or two.

“Some organizations have jumped in it fully with both feet, some are treading water and probably just letting come up to the waist,” Boston-Leary said, “and some are still on the fence because they want to see the outcomes [of] implementing this technology.”

Virtual nursing can be implemented in many different ways, which is why the ANA is establishing principles around virtual nursing, according to Boston-Leary.

“A nurse leader, a colleague of mine, said that it feels like the wild, wild west,” Boston-Leary said. “So how do we tame this beast?”

Boston-Leary emphasized the concern about rural hospitals and health systems that cannot afford the technology. Part of the ANA’s goal is to understand the various options and applications of virtual nursing, and how smaller systems can use and receive resources for virtual nursing programs.

Looking ahead

Boston-Leary listed several immediate concerns facing CNOs, including the supply chain.

“The hottest issue is supply chain, with climate change and how that impacted our supply [of] IV solutions because our major manufacturing plants in the U.S were disrupted by Hurricane Helene,” Boston-Leary said. “It’s impacting care delivery [and] surgeries are being cancelled at this point.”

Another concern is racism and discrimination in nursing, specifically because of legislative impacts on diversity, equity, and inclusion, Boston-Leary explained.

“There’s data that show that because of the major shift after the murder of George Floyd that caused this [issue] to become front and center, a number of people of color, leaders, were hired into these roles,” Boston-Leary said, “and a lot of these department roles have gone away.”

Boston-Leary also described the growing divide in nursing between staff and leadership, and the general unease surrounding AI in healthcare.

“You have this divide that’s growing between nurses and nursing leadership about [what’s] important, and margin versus mission,” Boston-Leary said, “and then you have AI where people are not sure what to do with it, whether they should be scared of it, or embrace it, or both.”

All of these issues and more will be discussed at the Workforce Decision Makers Exchange, so stay tuned for more coverage.