REPORT: 2026 Health Care Workforce Retention
See what’s driving clinician commitment in 2026!
While turnover may be stabilizing, fewer exits do not mean a healthier and more committed workforce. Your patient-facing clinicians – including physicians, nurses, advanced practice providers, and other licensed professionals – are still under strain.
New research from SullivanCotter and our sister organization, Lotis Blue Consulting, highlights which factors most strongly influence a clinician’s decision to stay, consider leaving, or quit.
This innovative report draws on feedback from more than 1,000 clinicians across 300+ health care organizations nationwide to provide the latest look into the psychological drivers behind turnover and clinician retention. It includes insight into 38 different elements of the Employee Value Proposition.
Download the free report for access to critical data such as:
- Among surveyed clinicians, 80% intend to stay, 11% are considering leaving, and 9% reported quitting a health care job in the past year, a marked decline from the prior study.
- Notably, nearly 60% of departures were driven by job-related factors, reinforcing that much of today’s turnover risk remains within organizational control.
- Staying decisions are anchored in a work environment that delivers security, belonging, purpose, and sustainability.
- Early disengagement begins when clinicians become overstretched, undervalued, or stagnant.
- Quitting decisions occur when work becomes incompatible with clinicians’ values and the motivations that drew them to medicine in the first place.
- Physicians report lower quit rates than other clinical roles, but their commitment is most strongly anchored in trust in clinical discretion, perceived fairness in compensation, and frictionless practice conditions.
- Clinicians with less than one year of service continue to leave at meaningfully higher rates than the overall workforce, underscoring the outsized impact of onboarding, workload design, and early support on long-term commitment.
Hear straight from our experts:
“Stabilized turnover doesn’t equal recovery. Workforce shortages, financial constraints, operational pressures, and access challenges are intensifying internal tension, and that tension is increasingly visible in engagement, productivity, and the ability to deliver reliable care.”
Erica Grant, Partner, Lotis Blue Consulting
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“Retention has become a leading indicator of operational stability. When organizations get the employee value proposition right, they protect capacity, reduce avoidable cost, and create the conditions for clinicians to do their best work.”
Aaron Sorensen, Senior Partner, Lotis Blue Consulting