Given the ever-rising number of patients over the last several years, there has been a need to match the demand by adding more practitioners to the equation. However, physicians’ desires to step back from clinical care that started during COVID show no signs of abating; current projections indicate a deficit of up to 86,000 physicians by 2036. The need and thus the demand for nurse practitioners has been increasing consistently. At present, more than 300,000 NPs are practicing nationwide. By 2032, this figure is expected to climb 45.7%, making it the nation's fastest-growing profession and far outpacing the growth of physicians.
In a concerning revelation for healthcare leaders, a recent report by KLAS Research has unveiled a strong connection between nurses' dissatisfaction with Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and their risk of burnout. The study, based on feedback from approximately 75,000 nurses over the past three years, offers a sobering look at the challenges faced by our frontline healthcare workers.
Key findings from the report include
- 32% of nurses experiencing burnout symptoms cited their EHR as a contributor.
- 40% of these nurses indicated they're likely to leave their organization within two years.
- 40% of nurses reported their EHR doesn't have the expected response time.
- 23% felt their EHR isn't reliable.
About two-thirds of nurses didn't feel they have a voice in EHR changes, and ~39% felt they couldn't ask for fixes, indicating that there is a concerning gap in EHR governance. These statistics paint a picture of a workforce struggling with tools meant to aid them in the first place.
So, as a forward-thinking healthcare leader, what should one do? The report suggests focusing on four key areas:
- EHR infrastructure (system reliability and response time)
- EHR education (both initial and ongoing)
- EHR governance (involving nurses in decision-making)
- EHR personalization (meeting individual user needs)
MarianaAI’s Take
The key takeaway for healthcare leaders is that addressing clinician burnout isn’t solely about optimizing systems—it’s about listening to the voices of those who interact with these systems daily. Technology designed in isolation will always fall short. To truly solve these challenges, we need to rethink how EHRs integrate with clinical workflows, how they empower—not inhibit—healthcare workers, and how we involve users in shaping the tools they depend on. Only then can we expect a meaningful shift in nurse satisfaction and retention.
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