One-quarter of U.S. RNs to seek new job

SAN DIEGO, June 30 (UPI) -- Almost 25 percent of U.S. registered nurses say they plan to look for another job as soon as the economy recovers -- up 15 percent from 2010 -- a survey says.

The survey of registered nurses, conducted by AMN Healthcare, a provider of comprehensive healthcare staffing, analyzed data from 1,002 respondents. Thirty-two percent of the nurses surveyed say they plan to take steps in the next one to three years that would take them out of nursing by retiring, seeking non-nursing jobs or reducing clinical work by switching to part-time or less-demanding roles -- up from the 26 percent who said the same in 2010.

Nurse career satisfaction is high at 74 percent, but actual satisfaction with the role registered nurses hold is at 58 percent, down from 66 percent last year.

Forty-three percent say they either would not recommend nursing as a career to young people or were not sure they would -- up from 36 percent in 2010. Forty-four percent say they would not select nursing as a career if they had it to do over or not sure that they would.

"Our survey clearly indicates a significant job satisfaction decline from 2010 to 2011," Ralph Henderson, AMN Healthcare's nursing and allied division president, says in a statement.

The survey has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.