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Nurses - who typically work long hours and may face abuse on the job - are more likely to take their own lives, a new study finds.
Researchers from the University of California-San Diego recently conducted the first nationwide investigation into nurse suicides in more than 20 years. They found that male and female nurses both have higher rates of suicide than the general US population.
The nurse suicide epidemic is consistent with increasing rates of suicide across the country. The US suicide rate spiked in recent years, increasing by 28% in the past two decades, and the rate of suicide is the highest its been since World War II.
For nurses, hardships on the job include working long hours due to nationwide worker shortages, plus dealing with physical and verbal abuse on the job.
Here's what the high rate of suicide among nurses tells us about the crisis facing one of the nation's most in-demand jobs.
If you are a nurse with a story to share, email aakhtar@businessinsider.com.
Nursing is one of the fastest-growing occupations in the country — yet nationwide nurse shortages cause them to work long hours with little time for rest.
Nurse practitioner is the sixth fastest-growing career in the US, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs for registered nurses and licensed practical nurses are also expected to grow at a pace higher than the national average by 2026. As baby boomers get older, more nurses will need to provide medical care for them.
Despite the job opportunity, many hospitals are struggling to fill roles — and the problem is expected to get much worse. By 2030, the US will have hundreds of thousands of vacant RN jobs, particularly in the South and West Coast, according to a 2012 paper from the University of Nebraska.
Since nursing is a relatively high-paying profession — registered nurses make $71,730 per year — the job's high-demands could be turning workers away. Many nurses are also reaching retirement age, and enrollment at nursing schools has dipped.
The researchers found a suicide incidence of 11.97 per 100,000 people among female nurses. For American women in general, the incidence is 7.58 per 100,000 people. Women overwhelmingly make up the profession, but male nurses are also more likely to commit suicide than men in general, the study found.
While researchers often document burnout and suicide among physicians, very few spend time assessing the state of nursing, lead researcher Judy Davidson told MedPage Today.
"Nurses are known not to care for themselves as much as they care for others," Davidson, a nurse scientist, told the publication. "It's just a part of who we are."
Along with working long hours, nurses often face physical, verbal, and emotional abuse on the job.
One of the most pressing problems facing nurses is abuse on the job, American Nurse Association spokesperson Shannon McClendon told Business Insider in an interview. ANA, a nurse union, says 1 in every 4 nurses is physically assaulted on the job, consistent with otherresearch pointing toward high rates of nurse abuse.
Patients typically abuse nurses, especially people with dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Assaults range from getting cursed at to grabbing and kicking, according to a 2014 survey of more than 5,000 nurses. Visitors have also been reported to abuse nurses. Emergency nurses had the highest likelihood of experiencing abusive behavior.
Researchers attributed the rise in suicides in part due to the deterioration of good, blue-collar jobs.
"If you go back to the early '70s when you had the so-called blue-collar aristocrats, those jobs have slowly crumbled away and many more men are finding themselves in a much more hostile labor market with lower wages, lower quality and less permanent jobs," Brookings researcher Angus Deaton told NPR. "That's made it harder for them to get married. They don't get to know their own kids. There's a lot of social dysfunction building up over time."
Many nurse advocacy groups are calling for greater workplace protections.
Davidson pointed to work volume and violence as two of the largest contributing factors toward nurse suicide.
In February, ANA helped introduce a bill that requires the Department of Labor to address workplace violence toward healthcare providers. The mandate would require workplaces to train and educate employees at risk of being harmed, and implement a comprehensive plan to protect nurses from violence.
A New York City nurse union convinced hospitals to ease over-staffing earlier this year after threatening to strike.
"From the bedside to the boardroom, all nurse leaders have a role in creating a healthy work environment supportive of mental well-being," the trade group American Organization for Nursing Leadership said in a statement. "We continue to advocate for funding of mental health resources and are working with fellow nursing organizations to address nurse suicide."
