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A fifth of the nursing and midwifery professionals who left the register in the last year did so within 10 years of joining, figures show.
Nursing leaders described the statistic as “deeply alarming” and called on ministers to “grasp the nettle and make nursing an attractive career”.
The latest Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) annual report on its register of nurses, midwives and nursing associates in the UK shows 27,168 staff left the profession between April 2023 and March 2024, a slight decrease on the previous 12 months.
However, 20.3 per cent of the total - or 5,508 - did so within the first 10 years.
This is compared to 18.8 per cent in 2020/2021 and “reflects a rise over the last three years”, according to the report.
Professor Nicola Ranger, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: “It is deeply alarming that over 5,000 young, early-career nursing staff chose to quit the profession last year, most vowing never to return.
“When the vacancy rate is high and care standards often poor due to staffing levels, the NHS cannot afford to lose a single individual.
“New ministers have to grasp the nettle and make nursing an attractive career.”
The NMC invited a portion of the staff who left the register between January 2023 and March 2024 - a total of 32,950 professionals - to complete a leavers survey, which attracted 7,647 responses.
It found retirement, poor health and burnout were the top three reasons why staff left.
Of the leavers, 49 per cent said they left the profession earlier than expected.
The proportion of staff likely to return to a career in nursing or midwifery remained low at 8 per cent, although one in three said they would consider working outside the UK.
Prof Ranger added: “Working in understaffed, under-resourced services is taking its toll, with poor physical health, mental health and burnout pushing highly-trained nursing staff out the door. This is a tragedy for patient care.
“The reality for the Government is that international recruitment is masking the failure to recruit enough domestic nursing staff, with equal numbers joining services from overseas.
“Our migrant nursing staff are incredible and vital to the delivery of our health and care services, but this over-reliance is unsustainable and unethical.
“The new Government must step in and rescue the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.” ?
The figures on leavers comes as the NMC report revealed there are now more nurses, midwives and nursing associates on its register than ever, at 826,418.
The total is 4.8 per cent - or 37,723 - higher than 12 months ago, and 18.4 per cent higher than five years ago.
The NMC welcomed the record numbers “given the challenges of increasing demand for health and social care services, changing needs and workforce pressures”.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “It’s great to see more NHS nurses, midwives and nursing associates than ever before, but the hard part now is holding on to them.
“It’s a big worry that a survey of leavers found almost half quit the profession earlier than planned, many blaming burnout and poor physical and mental health.
“While the aim of the year-old Long Term Workforce Plan for the NHS is to establish a more sustainable supply of trained home-grown staff, the figures show that half of those on the register still come from abroad.
“With almost one in three people on the register from black and ethnic minority backgrounds, it’s vital that we keep working hard to ensure that the NHS is a great place to work - inclusive, promoting equality and combating discrimination.”
