The healthcare sector lost approximately 4,100 jobs overall in April, an unwelcome sign as the economy continues recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new data released Friday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nursing homes lost about 19,500 jobs last month, compared with 3,200 jobs lost the month prior. Nursing home losses were offset in the sector by notable gains in ambulatory service jobs, which were up 21,000.
Healthcare employment still is down by about 542,000 since February 2020, BLS noted.
The latest lackluster jobs report was released last week on the heels of a new report from McKinsey, which found that almost one fourth of nurses (22%) said they may leave their current position within the year, as a result of insufficient staffing, workload and acute emotional toll due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, that percentage was even higher among women and nurses in long-term care settings. For example, nurses in long-term care or home settings said they were 1.5 times more likely to leave than their inpatient peers. In addition, female nurses were two times more likely than male nurses to say they intended to leave their jobs.
McKinsey researchers surveyed 400 nurses across different settings in February and found a 60% increase in the number planning to leave compared with 2020’s report.
More than half said they would leave for a role not involved in direct patient care or retire, “which was striking to us and just for the profession at large, which has had and will probably continue to have high demand for talent,” said Mhoire Murphy, a McKinsey partner and co-author of the report.
