The West Virginia Center for Nursing has completed a survey titled 2021 Nurses Who Left Survey. A brief summary of this survey can be found at the link below.
The purpose of this survey was to examine the reasons by nurses in 2019-2020 did not renew their licenses. Nearly 2/3rd of respondents did not renew because they retired (55.8%) or moved to practice in another state (10.14%). Within the current makeup of the nursing workforce, over a third of all nurses are over the age of 51, meaning this trend of nurses retiring will continue. Among nurses who left WV to be licensed in another state, compensation and working conditions are highly ranked high among reasons they left. Nursing employers may benefit from offering higher salaries, benefits or other compensation to maintain the current nursing workforce. Scholarships and loan repayment programs with service obligations may also help this attrition.