Investing in the Frontlines of Health Equity
City & State
In New York, and across the country, it is undeniably true that our health care workforce is on the front lines of forging health equity. While this has always been the case, it became especially evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when the energy and support for nurses flourished at an incredibly challenging time. Though the pandemic has waned and many of us have returned to regular working conditions, the pressures on nurses, individually and collectively, persists. According to 2023 re-registration surveys in New York, 15% of hospital patient care RNs between the ages of 20 and 39 reported plans to leave their current position within the next 12 months – nearly the same percentage as nurses ages 60 and up who are planning to soon retire.
Nurses have always been the backbone of our health care system, serving as the first point of interaction with patients and advocating for them as key intermediaries with physicians. To ensure we have a sustained, skilled and diverse workforce for years to come, the private and public sectors must partner on short- and long-term investments in both the recruitment and retention of nurses.