Healthcare staffing shortages are happening because the need for care is growing faster than the supply of trained clinicians. More older patients need more complex care. Many doctors and nurses are close to retirement. Burnout keeps pushing experienced staff out, and training programs can’t replace them fast enough.
Facilities still have real options. The best responses come in layers. Keep the people you already have. Cover urgent gaps with flexible staffing such as locum tenens. Let every clinician work at the top of their license. Build a local pipeline for the future. Below, we break down the data, the causes, and how to pick the right mix for your facility.
How Big Is the Staffing Shortage in Healthcare Right Now?
The shortage is real, but it isn’t even. National numbers can look manageable on paper while certain units, regions, and specialties feel a crisis every single shift.
The table below pulls together the most useful healthcare staffing shortage statistics from three major sources.
| Measure | Latest Figure | Source |
| Projected RN shortage in 2028 | 8% nationally | HRSA, December 2025 |
| Projected RN shortage in 2038 | 3%, or about 108,960 full-time RNs | HRSA, December 2025 |
| Projected LPN/LVN shortage in 2038 | About 245,950 full-time LPNs (supply covers only 70% of demand) | HRSA, December 2025 |
| Projected physician shortage by 2036 | Between 13,500 and 86,000 physicians | AAMC, 2024 |
| Hospital RN vacancy rate | 8.6%, about 43 open RN positions per hospital | NSI, 2026 |
| Staff RN turnover in 2025 | 17.6%, up from the year before | NSI, 2026 |
The nursing figures come from HRSA’s Nurse Workforce Projections, 2023 to 2038. The key takeaway is that the national RN gap is expected to narrow slowly. Meanwhile, the LPN gap gets wider, and the physician outlook depends heavily on future residency funding.
Why National Averages Hide the Real Problem
Location and specialty matter more than the national headline. HRSA projects a 24% RN shortage in nonmetro areas in 2028, compared with just 5% in metro areas. California is projected to have the largest state shortage in 2038, at 22%, or roughly 84,750 full-time RNs.
Specialty adds another layer. NSI reports that behavioral health units have the highest RN turnover at 22.5%, followed by emergency departments at 20.7%. So a psychiatric hospital in a rural county may face a far tougher hiring market than a suburban hospital an hour away.
Why Are Healthcare Staffing Shortages Happening?
No single cause explains it. Several pressures stack on top of each other, and each one makes the others worse.
Patients Need More Care Than Ever
The AAMC expects the U.S. population aged 65 and older to grow by 34% by 2036. Older adults tend to live with more chronic conditions, see more specialists, and stay in the hospital longer. Demand rises even if the total population barely changes.
The Workforce Is Aging Out
According to the AAMC, about 20% of active physicians are 65 or older, and another 22% are between 55 and 64. That means a big wave of retirements is already underway. For a closer look at the physician side, see our guide on is there a shortage of doctors in the US.
Burnout Drains Experienced Staff
Turnover feeds itself. When one nurse leaves, coworkers pick up extra shifts and get more tired. That makes them more likely to leave too.
The cost adds up fast. NSI puts the average cost of losing one bedside RN at $60,090. A unit of 50 nurses at the national turnover rate loses about nine nurses a year. That comes to over $500,000 in replacement costs before you count overtime or agency premiums.
Training Pipelines Have Hard Limits
New supply can’t simply be switched on. Federal law caps Medicare-funded residency positions, which limits how many new doctors finish training each year. Nursing schools face their own bottlenecks, including faculty shortages and limited clinical placement sites.
What Happens When a Facility Stays Understaffed?
Understaffing rarely shows up as one big failure. It shows up as many small ones: beds closed for lack of nurses, patients boarding in the emergency department, surgeries pushed back, and longer waits for appointments.
Quality and safety suffer as well. Exhausted staff have less time for each patient, and important tasks get missed. We explain the clinical side in more depth in our article on how the nurse shortage affects patient care and outcomes.
The financial hit is easy to underestimate. Lost admissions, overtime, and premium pay often cost more than the solutions facilities hesitate to fund.
Which Healthcare Staffing Shortage Solutions Actually Work?
The strongest plans match each solution to a time frame. Some fixes work this week, some take a year, and some take five years to pay off. Most facilities need all three running at once.
Protect Retention First
Keeping a nurse is faster and cheaper than replacing one. NSI estimates that each one-point change in RN turnover costs or saves the average hospital about $295,000 a year.
Practical retention steps include:
- Stay interviews that ask why people remain.
- Flexible scheduling and self-scheduling options.
- Protected orientation for new hires.
- Fair patient assignments.
- Clear paths for career growth.
Cutting low-value documentation also helps, since paperwork is one of the most common frustrations clinicians raise.
Use Flexible Staffing to Bridge Gaps
When a role needs to be filled now, flexible staffing keeps services open. Locum tenens physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants can cover a sudden leave, a long vacancy, a seasonal surge, or a new service line. Per diem and contract nurses play a similar role on the nursing side.
The locum tenens staffing model works best as a bridge, not a permanent crutch. A simple rule helps here. If contract staff have covered a role for more than six months, review why the permanent search is stalling.
Let Every Clinician Work at the Top of Their License
Some roles are less scarce than others. HRSA projects that nurse practitioner supply will exceed national demand through 2038, even though NPs are unevenly distributed.
Team-based care puts that capacity to work. NPs and PAs can handle many routine visits. LVNs and CNAs can take on tasks that don’t require an RN. Pharmacists can manage medication reconciliation. Scope of practice rules vary by state, so check local regulations first.
Build a Local Pipeline
Long-term stability comes from growing your own talent. Effective options include:
- Clinical rotation partnerships with nearby schools.
- Tuition support tied to a service commitment.
- Career ladders that help CNAs become LVNs and RNs.
- Federal programs such as the National Health Service Corps, which offers loan repayment for clinicians in designated shortage areas.
Use Technology to Give Time Back
Technology works best when it removes busywork rather than replacing people. Telehealth can bring psychiatry and specialty care to remote sites. Ambient documentation tools can shorten charting time. Start with small pilots and measure whether staff actually gain time.
How Do You Choose the Right Response for Your Facility?
Start with your biggest pain point, then match it to the response with the fastest payoff. The table below covers common situations.
| If Your Situation Is | Start With | Why It Helps |
| A clinician leaves suddenly or goes on leave | Locum tenens or per diem coverage | Keeps services running while you recruit |
| A role has stayed open for three months or more | Locum coverage plus a review of pay, schedule, and location | Long vacancies usually point to a fixable mismatch |
| Many new hires quit in their first year | Longer orientation and mentoring | Early exits often trace back to a rough start |
| A rural site can’t attract specialists | Telehealth plus rotating locum coverage | Brings expertise without requiring relocation |
| RNs are stretched by non-nursing tasks | Team-based care redesign | Frees nurses for skilled work |
| Demand keeps growing year after year | Pipeline partnerships | Builds supply you control |
Before choosing, answer three questions:
- Where are we losing people?
- How long do our vacancies stay open?
- What does one week of an empty position cost us?
Those answers usually make the right priority obvious.
What Should Your Facility Do Next?
Staffing shortages won’t solve themselves, but they can be managed. The facilities that cope best measure the true cost of vacancies, fill urgent gaps quickly, and fix retention at the same time.
A practical first step is to list every open role, how long it has been vacant, and what it costs each week. From there, Intuitive Health can help you cover critical gaps with qualified locum tenens clinicians while your long-term plan takes shape. If you’re a clinician exploring your options, browse our current healthcare job openings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is There Really a Nursing Shortage, or Just Bad Working Conditions?
Both are true. Many licensed nurses have left bedside roles because of workload, pay, or scheduling, not because they stopped being nurses. Supply gaps exist too, but better working conditions are the part a facility can control right away.
Why Can’t New Grad Nurses Find Jobs If There’s a Shortage?
The shortage is mostly for experienced nurses in specific specialties and locations. Many hospitals hesitate to hire new grads because training them takes time and preceptors are scarce. New grads often have better luck with residency programs, rural facilities, long-term care, or behavioral health settings.
Do Mandated Nurse-to-Patient Ratios Fix Staffing Shortages?
Not on their own. California has required minimum hospital ratios since 2004. Supporters say ratios improve safety and make bedside jobs more sustainable. Critics point out that ratios don’t create new nurses, so facilities without enough staff may have to close beds to stay compliant.
Are Locum Tenens and Contract Clinicians More Expensive Than Permanent Staff?
The hourly rate is usually higher. However, facilities typically avoid benefits costs, long search expenses, and the revenue lost from an empty schedule. The fair comparison is not locum pay versus employee pay. It’s locum coverage versus no coverage at all.
How Long Does It Take to Hire an Experienced Nurse?
NSI’s 2026 report puts the average time to recruit an experienced RN at about 78 days. Physician searches, especially for specialists, often take much longer. Coverage plans should start the day a resignation comes in.
When Will the Healthcare Staffing Shortage End?
There is no fixed end date. Current projections assume today’s graduation and attrition patterns hold steady, so a recession, policy change, or new burnout wave could shift the outlook. For planning purposes, most facilities should treat shortages as an ongoing condition rather than a temporary crisis.
