More than 200 AAN members speak out

68% are ready to leave the nursing profession

Data from the Alberta Association of Nurse’s (AAN) November membership poll puts Alberta nurses’ perspective on the circulating article from the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), Which Provinces Struggle the Most to Keep Young Nurses? MEI’s data showed that, for every 100 young nurses entering the nursing profession in Alberta, about 48 nurses under the age of 35 will not renew their registration in the first five years of working.  

So, AAN posed the question to its members: are you thinking of leaving the nursing profession in the next five years?

Shockingly, 68% responded that they were thinking of leaving the profession. This number increases to 73% when looking at respondents aged 20 to 30.

22% of respondents indicated they were leaving due to planned, or early, retirement. Of note, 74% of all who responded were ages 41 – 61+, which skews towards retirement years, and only 24% were ages 20 – 40.

Whether respondents worked five or 20 years, the reasons why nurses are leaving were similar: undesirable working conditions.

Nurses love nursing. They love to care. They don’t want to leave.

But what they feel they don’t have are the safe and supportive working conditions to stay.  

The tragedy of the state of Alberta’s nursing workforce comes clear in the comments.

The words stress, burnout, respect, understaffed, overworked, and lack of support echo through the hundreds of comments again and again. These are massive issues affecting the entire nursing profession: lack of job satisfaction, work/life balance, patient load and safety concerns, and physical/mental health.

The decline of being able to provide quality healthcare is eroding the passion of why nurses entered the profession in the first place. AAN hears the frustrations of inadequate pay with increasing expectations and short supplies. We hear the call for more action from the Alberta Association of Nurses.

But without you, AAN does not exist. We are our members. 

“Where one may be a whisper, thousands are a chorus,” Kathy Howe, AAN CEO said. “We need AAN members to join that chorus.”

Every AAN member gives the association a stronger voice and platform to influence policy, politics, and advance nursing as a profession. AAN’s new Government Relations Committee needs more members to engage in advocacy efforts to reach MLAs across Alberta. Now is the time to join and speak out!

Nurses deserve to feel valued. Nurses can’t and shouldn’t be told to fix it themselves.

The Alberta Association of Nurse’s purpose is to enhance, promote, and advocate for all nursing disciplines. Together we will bring change where it’s needed for the nursing profession—and for each other. 🩺💪