KINGSTON, R.I. — Oct. 23, 2026 — The University of Rhode Island College of Nursing launched an innovative nurse well-being and workforce retention initiative that aims to address one of healthcare’s most pressing challenges: Sustaining a strong nursing workforce in an increasingly complex healthcare environment.

Nurses are among the most critical of healthcare professionals—administering medications, communicating with family members, assisting in diagnoses and treatment plans, and basically handling all aspects of patient care. It is not a stretch to say no healthcare organization could operate without them.

And yet they’re leaving in droves.

Burnout, workplace stress, emotional exhaustion, verbal abuse, and workforce instability are driving many nurses to leave their jobs and, in some cases, the profession entirely. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, bedside registered nurses had an 11% turnover rate, according to NSI Nursing Solutions. While turnover eased slightly when organizations increased salaries in the wake of the pandemic, the number quickly began ticking up again and now peaks at 18%.

Those numbers could get worse. A Wall Street Journal poll of 800,000 nurses in 2024 found that roughly 40% said they planned to leave the workforce or retire in the next five years. In another survey this year, 43% said they were likely to leave bedside positions within the next year.

The consequences of declining numbers of nurses affect patient safety, healthcare quality, organizational performance, and community health, according to URI nursing Dean Danny Willis. Research consistently shows that nursing turnover is associated with poorer patient outcomes, higher healthcare costs, and increased strain on healthcare systems, he said.

Regionally, Rhode Island also faces a growing shortage of primary care providers, placing an increasingly vital role on nurse practitioners and advanced practice registered nurses in expanding access to primary care, managing chronic disease, and improving health outcomes across the state. Simultaneously, the nation faces a critical shortage of nursing faculty, limiting the ability of colleges and universities to educate the next generation of nurses.

URI is poised to address each of these healthcare workforce challenges. With comprehensive master’s and doctoral degree programs—in addition to its highly ranked undergraduate and RN-to-BS programs—the URI College of Nursing prepares healthcare professionals across the full continuum of practice, educates nurse practitioners who serve as primary care providers, and develops future professors, researchers, and healthcare leaders.

The college is expanding its efforts to address the potential shortage with its Nurse Wellbeing and Workforce Retention Initiative. Some of the leading voices in healthcare—including chief nursing officers, national leaders in quality and safety, well-being experts, and bedside nurses from hospitals in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, as well as several URI nursing professors—met this week at the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence for a think tank session to set the stage for the workplace initiative. In deep dive breakout discussions, groups of healthcare professionals considered workplace retention from the nursing and management perspectives.

“Grounded in the college’s motto, ‘Nurse Leaders Transforming Well-being and Environments,’ this initiative seeks to develop and test innovative approaches that strengthen the nursing workforce while improving the environments in which nurses learn, lead, and practice,” Willis said. “Through education, research, and academic-practice partnerships, URI aims to generate solutions that improve outcomes for healthcare professionals, organizations, and the communities they serve. This initiative will strengthen the workforce pipeline from nursing education to clinical practice while positioning URI as a leader in nurse wellbeing, workforce sustainability, and healthcare transformation.”

The group discussed ways to ensure new nurses feel ready for practice to start their careers, considering training and orientation systems employed at various healthcare settings, including establishing a nursing residency program. Greater flexibility in scheduling, financial incentives for preceptors to improve training, finding ways to reduce the patient-to-nurse ratio, even reconsidering the physical layout of a hospital ward have the potential to decrease burnout and improve nurse retention, the group determined.

The group considered management practices that help retain nurses, and practices that may drive them away. Nurses’ voices need to be amplified not just in direct patient care, but also in hospital practices. At the same time, nurses need to know the challenges healthcare facilities face, the flexibility the career requires, and the dedication needed to work in healthcare today. Setting expectations from the beginning, along with continuing training and professional development, can help keep nurses from burning out and leaving the profession.

Going forward, the College will engage additional healthcare organizations, professional associations, policymakers, researchers, community leaders, and philanthropic partners who “share a vision for healthier workplaces, a stronger healthcare workforce, and healthier communities” in order to make an impact on healthcare delivery into the future.

“Together, we can advance new knowledge, develop leaders, strengthen access to care, and create environments where healthcare professionals can thrive,” Willis said. “By strengthening nurse well-being, workforce retention, leadership development, and workforce preparation, the college seeks to help build a more resilient healthcare system for Rhode Island and beyond. The long-term impact will be measured in the success of individual nurses, stronger healthcare organizations, expanded access to care, better patient outcomes, and healthier communities.”