Nurse Burnout Is Driving Nurses Away. What If There Is Another Way to Care?
Sep 27, 2026
Nurses do not enter healthcare because they want to rush through patient care, spend less time at the bedside, or feel disconnected from the people they serve. Most enter nursing because they want to care for people during some of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
But for many nurses, the reality of working within today’s healthcare system looks very different.
A May 2026 report from National Nurses United found that nearly 1.15 million registered nurses with active licenses are not currently working as nurses. The organization describes the issue as a nurse retention crisis rather than simply a nursing shortage, pointing to unsafe and unsustainable working conditions as major reasons nurses are leaving hospital settings.
Read the National Nurses United report
Nurse Burnout Doesn’t Mean You’ve Lost Your Calling
As a former hospice and oncology nurse, I understand the desire to have more time with patients and families.
There is a part of nursing that cannot be measured in tasks completed. It is sitting beside someone who is afraid. Helping a family understand what is happening. Listening. Educating. Advocating. Being fully present when someone’s life has changed forever.
When nurses don’t have the time, staffing, or support to provide that kind of care, it can create a painful disconnect between why they became a nurse and what their work allows them to do each day.
If you are experiencing nurse burnout, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you no longer want to care for people. You may be searching for a different way to use the knowledge, compassion, and experience you already have.
Why Nurses Are Drawn to End-of-Life Doula Work
An end-of-life doula provides non-medical support, education, guidance, and presence to individuals and families throughout the end-of-life journey.
For nurses, this work can feel familiar while also being very different from a traditional clinical role. You already understand how important communication is. You know how overwhelming the healthcare system can feel to families. You have seen what happens when people reach the end of life without understanding what to expect.
Death doulas have the opportunity to help fill that gap. They do not replace hospice, nurses, physicians, or other members of the medical team. Instead, they work alongside traditional end-of-life care by helping individuals and families feel informed, supported, and less afraid.
There Is a Growing Need for End-of-Life Education
One of the greatest lessons I learned from working at the bedside of more than 1,000 end-of-life patients was how often families arrived at this stage completely unprepared.
They loved the person who was dying. They wanted to help. But no one had ever taught them what the dying process looked like or how to support someone through it.
This is one of the reasons I created Doulagivers Institute and our end-of-life education programs. Our goal is to return these essential skills to families and communities while preparing compassionate people to support them.
Our free Level 1 End-of-Life Doula and Family Caregiver Training introduces the three phases of end of life, simple non-medical comfort measures, and ways to support overwhelmed families.
You Don’t Have to Leave Everything Behind to Explore Something New
Becoming an end-of-life doula does not have to mean walking away from nursing tomorrow.
Some nurses may choose to build an independent end-of-life practice. Others may bring doula skills back into the work they already do. And some may simply want to explore whether this kind of service reconnects them with something they have been missing.
The first step is education. If you became a nurse because you wanted to help people feel safe, informed, heard, and cared for, that part of you may still be very much alive.
The question may not be, “Do I still want to be a nurse?”
It may be, “How do I want to use everything nursing has taught me next?”
Are You a Nurse Looking for a Different Way to Serve?
If you’re a nurse experiencing burnout, questioning what’s next, or feeling called toward end-of-life work, we invite you to join Suzanne O’Brien, RN, for our upcoming free webinar.
You’ll learn more about end-of-life doula work, the skills used to support individuals and families, and how your nursing experience can translate into this growing field.
[Join Our Upcoming Free Webinar]
Additional Resources:
The GOOD DEATH Seminar Series: Register here
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