Healthcare Employee
Recognition Statistics
Turnover, vacancy, burnout, and recognition data for hospitals and health systems -- pulled from the NSI National Health Care Retention Report, Joyce University, and Workhuman + Gallup research. Every stat linked to its primary source.
Nurse turnover & the cost of replacement
Hospital turnover stayed elevated in 2025. The dollars per nurse replaced are now large enough to fund a recognition program many times over.
national hospital turnover rate in 2025 -- a nominal increase from the prior year.
Source: NSI Nursing Solutions, 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report
RN turnover rate in 2025 -- up 1.2 percentage points year-over-year.
average cost of turnover for a single bedside RN, resulting in an average hospital loss of $4.2M to $6.2M annually.
cost (or savings) per year, per hospital, for every 1% change in RN turnover.
national RN vacancy rate. A third of hospitals (33.1%) still report a vacancy rate of 10% or higher.
acute-care registered nurses exited their position last year. Over the past five years, the average hospital has turned 102% of its RN workforce.
Burnout & emotional exhaustion
The underlying condition driving turnover. Recognition isn't a cure for burnout, but it's one of the few protective factors that scales.
of nurses say they feel emotionally exhausted multiple times a week.
Source: Nurse.org coverage of Joyce University 2025 nurse-burnout study (1,000 RNs polled, U.S.)
of Gen Z nurses report feeling burned out every single day.
of nurses reported being required to work mandatory overtime three or more times in the past month.
of women nurses say they're uncomfortable talking to their supervisor about burnout or mental health (compared to 26% of men).
What recognition does in healthcare environments
The retention numbers that justify a recognition program against the dollars on the previous section.
less likely to have turned over after two years -- well-recognized employees vs. those receiving lower-quality recognition.
Source: Gallup, "Employee Retention Depends on Getting Recognition Right" (2024)
as likely to be engaged -- employees receiving recognition fulfilling even one of the five quality pillars, vs. none.
Source: Workhuman & Gallup, "Recognition and Retention" (2024)
RN vacancy rate at hospitals with ANCC Magnet Recognition status -- meaningfully below the 8.6% national average.
RN Recruitment Difficulty Index -- it takes more than 2.5 months on average to recruit an experienced RN. Retention is faster than recruitment.
A 1% drop in RN turnover ≈ $295,000 back to the hospital
That's NSI's number, not ours. Combine it with Gallup's finding that well-recognized employees are 45% less likely to leave, and the case for a structured recognition program in a healthcare environment becomes a financial one, not just a culture one.
A program that costs five figures a year can plausibly return six or seven figures in avoided turnover -- if it actually changes the experience of being recognized at work.
Frequently asked questions
What's the average cost of replacing a registered nurse?
NSI's 2026 National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report puts the average cost of turnover for a bedside RN at $60,090. Across an average hospital, that totals $4.2M to $6.2M annually depending on size and RN turnover rate.
How much can a hospital save by reducing RN turnover?
Each 1% change in RN turnover -- up or down -- moves an average hospital by $295,000 per year, per NSI 2026. A program that meaningfully reduces nurse turnover by even one or two percentage points pays for itself many times over.
How does employee recognition reduce nurse turnover?
Gallup & Workhuman tracked 3,400+ employees from 2022 to 2024 and found that those who received high-quality recognition in 2022 were 45% less likely to have left their job by 2024. The pattern holds across industries, including healthcare environments where burnout and exhaustion are already elevated.
What's the current RN burnout rate?
A 2025 Joyce University study of 1,000 U.S. registered nurses found that 74% feel emotionally exhausted multiple times a week, and 28% of Gen Z nurses report feeling burned out every single day. Burnout is a multi-cause phenomenon, but recognition is one of the few protective factors a hospital can scale operationally.
Build a recognition program your nurses actually feel
Branded, automated, and embedded into your existing tools. Same approach Modivcare and St. Joseph's Healthcare use.