AMN Healthcare Survey Reveals Critical Divide Between Healthcare Leaders and Frontline Workers
AMN Healthcare’s 2026 survey shows low workforce outlook scores and a sharp perception gap between healthcare executives and frontline staff.
Rhea-AI Summary
AMN Healthcare (AMN) released its 2026 Healthcare Workforce Outlook Survey, based on responses from 4,040 healthcare professionals across nine leadership and frontline roles.
The survey introduces a new Healthcare Workforce Outlook Index, which measures workforce health across five dimensions: employee engagement, organizational health, leadership and support, staffing confidence and future readiness. The overall index score is 38%, with no dimension above 50%. Employee engagement scores 48%, while future readiness is lowest at 29%, highlighting concern about the workforce’s ability to meet future demands.
Findings show a large perception gap between leaders and frontline staff: 58% of executives rate leadership as effective versus 28% of frontline workers. Among nurses, 79% intend to remain in nursing but only 51% plan to stay with their current employer, and 85% report staffing-related care disruptions.
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Key Figures
- Survey participants
- 4,040 participants
- 2026 Healthcare Workforce Outlook Survey
- Overall index
- 38%
- Healthcare Workforce Outlook Index
- Future readiness
- 29%
- Lowest of five index dimensions
- Leadership effectiveness
- 58% vs. 28%
- Executives versus frontline workers
- Nurse employer loyalty
- 79% vs. 51%
- Intend to remain in nursing versus stay with current employer
- Adequate staffing
- 18%
- Nurses reporting current staffing levels as adequate
- Workload satisfaction
- 41%
- Nurses reporting satisfaction with workload
- Staffing-related care disruptions
- 85%, 75% and 72%
- Nurses, allied health professionals and physicians, respectively
Historical Context
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Prior report projected persistent staffing strain across nursing, allied health and physician workforces through 2030.
24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.
Key Terms
per diem technical
locum tenens technical
AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
First all-inclusive study of the healthcare workforce finds clinicians remain committed to care, but staffing, workload and leadership gaps threaten future readiness
Based on responses from 4,040 healthcare professionals across nine leadership and frontline roles, the survey reveals a workforce that remains committed to caring for patients but is operating under significant structural strain. The findings also identify a persistent divide between how healthcare leaders view organizational conditions and how frontline workers experience them.
The survey introduces the Healthcare Workforce Outlook Index, a composite measure that assesses workforce health across five dimensions: employee engagement, organizational health, leadership and support, staffing confidence, and future readiness. The overall index score is
"One of the most encouraging findings is that healthcare professionals remain deeply committed to caring for patients, which gives our industry a strong foundation to build on," said Cary Grace, President and CEO of AMN Healthcare. "The opportunity now is to translate that commitment into a workforce experience that can be sustained. When leaders combine better workforce intelligence with meaningful frontline input and clear accountability, we can build a workforce that is better prepared for the future."
Together, the five index dimensions show how invested employees are in their organizations, whether organizations have the resources and staffing needed to deliver care, how effectively leaders support their people, and how prepared the workforce is for future demand.
"The index gives healthcare leaders a new way to understand where their workforce is stable, where it is strained and where action is most urgent," Grace said. "The findings also reinforce that staffing, leadership, workload and professional development cannot be addressed as separate issues. Sustainable progress requires an integrated workforce strategy."
Among the survey's key findings:
- A significant leadership perception gap exists. While
58% of executives rate organizational leadership as effective, only28% of frontline workers agree. - Professional commitment remains strong, but employer loyalty is weaker. Seventy-nine percent of nurses intend to remain in nursing, while only
51% plan to stay with their current employer, creating a 28-point loyalty gap. - Nurses face particularly acute workforce strain. Only
18% of nurses consider current staffing levels adequate and41% report satisfaction with their workload. Nurses recorded the lowest scores of all survey participant groups across each of the five workforce indices. - Frontline professionals report widespread staffing-related care disruptions. Eighty-five percent of nurses,
75% of allied health professionals and72% of physicians report staffing-related care disruptions at some frequency, reinforcing the need to consider staffing as a care-quality and clinical risk issue.
The findings indicate that healthcare organizations cannot address workforce challenges through isolated initiatives. The report identifies several priorities for healthcare leaders, including creating sustainable workloads, establishing structured feedback loops between leadership and frontline teams, strengthening recruitment and staffing models, improving workforce data visibility, investing in career development and adapting strategies to the needs of different roles and organization sizes.
The complete 2026 Healthcare Workforce Outlook Survey report is available here.
Survey Methodology
AMN Healthcare conducted the online survey from Feb. 24 to March 31, 2026. The survey collected responses from 4,040 participants, including 947 clients, 2,889 candidates and 204 respondents in other healthcare categories. Leadership respondents represented six areas: senior executive, finance, human resources, technology, clinical leadership and patient care. Frontline respondents included nurses, allied health professionals and physicians working across permanent, travel, per diem, locum tenens and contract employment arrangements. Respondents represented hospitals and health systems of different sizes, as well as clinics, ambulatory networks, home health, academia and post-acute care settings.
About AMN Healthcare
AMN Healthcare is the leader and innovator in total talent solutions for health care, bringing together the people, processes and technology to deliver better care. Through a steadfast partnership approach, we solve the most pressing workforce challenges to enable better clinical outcomes and access to care. In 2025, our health care professionals reached more than 13 million patients at more than 2,300 health care systems, including
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Media Contact Corporate Communications AMN Healthcare |
Investor Contact Randle Reece Vice President, Investor Relations & Strategy AMN Healthcare (866) 861-3229 | ir@amnhealthcare.com |
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SOURCE AMN Healthcare Services, Inc.
FAQ
AI-generated questions and answers. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.
What are the five dimensions in the Healthcare Workforce Outlook Index?
The Healthcare Workforce Outlook Index assesses workforce health across five dimensions: employee engagement, organizational health, leadership and support, staffing confidence and future readiness.
How do leadership and frontline views differ on leadership effectiveness?
The survey reports a substantial perception gap: 58% of executives rate organizational leadership as effective, while only 28% of frontline workers agree.
What does the survey reveal about nurse loyalty to employers versus the profession?
Among nurses, 79% intend to remain in nursing, but only 51% plan to stay with their current employer, a 28-point loyalty gap between commitment to the profession and to their present organization.
What staffing and workload issues do nurses report in the survey?
Only 18% of nurses consider current staffing levels adequate and 41% report satisfaction with their workload. Nurses also recorded the lowest scores of all participant groups across each of the five workforce indices.
What priorities for healthcare leaders does the report identify?
The report highlights several priorities: creating sustainable workloads, establishing structured feedback loops between leadership and frontline teams, strengthening recruitment and staffing models, improving workforce data visibility, investing in career development, and adapting workforce strategies to the needs of different roles and organization sizes.
How was the 2026 Healthcare Workforce Outlook Survey conducted?
AMN Healthcare conducted the online survey from February 24 to March 31, 2026, collecting responses from 4,040 participants, including 947 clients, 2,889 candidates and 204 others in healthcare. Leadership respondents represented senior executive, finance, human resources, technology, clinical leadership and patient care roles. Frontline respondents included nurses, allied health professionals and physicians across permanent, travel, per diem, locum tenens and contract arrangements, from hospitals, health systems, clinics, ambulatory networks, home health, academia and post-acute care settings.