Dueling burnout:The dual-role nurse T hroughout history, the nursing profession has experienced fluctuations in turnover and retention and has experienced cycles of significant nurse shortages. 1 Before the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing turnover related to burnout, moral distress, compassion fatigue, and a desire to pursue advanced degrees and travel opportunities was a concern. 2,3 The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified these factors. 4 According to the 2022 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, turnover has increased by 8.5% with a national average of 27.1%. 5 In addition, hospitals have had a 95.7% RN turnover rate in the past 5 years. 5 The United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast projected that in 2020 there would be a shortage of clinical nurses totaling 154,018 and an additional shortage of 510,394 by 2030. 6 The US Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates the job outlook for nursing will average 194,500 openings per year over the next decade; many to fill the spots of team members leaving the workforce for other occupations or retirement. 7 The average turnover cost for an RN is estimated to be $46,100 (with a range from $33,900 to $58,300), and the average hospital could lose up to $7.1 million per year in turnover costs. 5 The report breaks this down further and describes that each percentage point lost in nursing turnover equals $262,300 lost from the organization per year. 5 The national data are telling, and illustrate what the Cardiothoracic ICU at the author's facility in 2018 was dealing with: an all-time high level of burnout.Colbenson and colleagues describe the definition of burnout by the World Health Organization as a syndrome that develops when chronic stress isn't successfully managed. 8 Nurses in the Cardiothoracic ICU were describing sentiments in which their core values and integrity were being dishonored, causing feelings of moral distress. 9 The nurses also described compassion fatigue or a feeling of hopelessness when caring for critically ill patients. 10,11 With these compounding factors, nursing KATERYNA KOVARZH/ISTOCK