Laudio and the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL) today released their Fall 2025 report, An Early Warning System for Nurse Burnout: Metrics and Strategies. Based on an analysis of a national workforce dataset of 95,000 nurses and their managers across more than 150 hospitals, the report introduces the first framework to predict nurse burnout through quantifiable workplace indicators rather than subjective surveys. It identifies eight burnout predictors for nursing teams, providing hospitals and health systems with actionable metrics and proven interventions.
The analysis reveals that, while overall staffing has improved and floating between units has decreased, additional challenges have accompanied this progress. Individual nurse workloads have intensified, making it difficult for many nurses to take adequate breaks, leave on time, or take paid time off (PTO). Notably, several burnout indicators have intensified over the past two years. These early signs often go undetected by traditional staffing metrics and reactive data, which can overlook the nuanced and unsustainable workload and wellness patterns influencing nurse retention.
“This report’s findings empower nurse leaders with a data-driven approach to proactively address burnout, enabling them to take targeted actions to support nurse well-being and help prevent nurse departures,” said Claire Zangerle, DNP, RN, Chief Executive Officer of AONL. “Leaders who address these invisible stressors can create truly supportive and sustainable work environments that better support nurses and the patients they serve.”
Key Warning Signs That Predict Burnout:
- PTO Threshold: When 50% of nurses on a team haven’t taken PTO in six months, early-tenure nurse turnover rises considerably.
- Extended Hours: Nurses regularly leaving late is the strongest predictor of burnout, associated with 2-6% higher overall nurse turnover.
- Break Patterns: Teams where nurses regularly skip breaks – a signal of an unsustainable culture – see annual retention declines of 15% or more among early-tenure nurses.
- Unscheduled Absences: When these occur frequently, it creates staffing gaps that place additional pressure on the broader team, increasing the risk of widespread burnout.
In addition to revealing these early warning indicators, the report provides 30+ practical interventions for nurse leaders based on industry evidence and one-on-one interviews conducted for the study. The findings emphasize two key focus areas for leadership. For nurse executives, the priority is creating visibility by integrating siloed data and fostering sustainability through role redesign and targeted retention efforts. For nurse managers, it is on building a deeper, direct understanding of team dynamics and having the broader team share responsibility for well-being.
“Our goal with this analysis was to show how available operational data can help nurse leaders predict role-related nurse burnout,” said Tim Darling, President of Laudio Insights and Co-Founder of Laudio. “With these eight burnout indicators, leaders can now keep a closer pulse on how their nurses are doing, more easily detect strain, and step in early to turn things around when needed – an increasingly critical need amid nursing workforce shortages.”
The complete findings of this fourth joint Laudio Insights-AONL report are available here and Laudio will have copies available at the ANCC Magnet Pathway Conference (Booth #1732) October 8-10th.
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