Iman Abuzeid, MD

Inside Incredible Health’s 2025 6th Annual State of U.S. Nurses & Technicians Report: Pressure, Progress, and a Path Forward

Jun 04 2025

As the nation’s largest software and AI-powered career marketplace for permanent healthcare workers, the Incredible Health team is proud to unveil our 6th Annual State of U.S. Nurses & Technicians Report. This year’s report marks a transformative milestone in our vision and mission to help healthcare professionals live better lives and find and do their best work. For the first time, our insights draw from over one million healthcare worker voices across the country, expanded to include both nurses and technicians, providing the most comprehensive, data-driven portrait of the workforce that powers our hospitals, surgery centers, and home health organizations.

This report is more than just numbers—it’s a call to action. Nurses and technicians represent the majority of U.S. healthcare workers. Their experiences, challenges, and aspirations are key inputs that shape and guide how we design the future of care. When we ask what’s working in healthcare—and what isn’t—it’s their insight that helps us shape a better, more sustainable system.

The 2025 report outlines critical challenges in staffing, compensation, and mental health but also illuminates a path forward grounded in innovation and opportunity.

A workforce at a crossroads: Technicians and technologists sound the alarm

Technicians and technologists make up over 30% of the clinical workforce. They’re essential from the operating room to imaging services to the lab but they’re under unprecedented strain. Their stories echo the early warning signs of the 2021 nurse staffing crisis—rising demands at work, unclear career progression, personal financial strain, and burnout. Among the most urgent findings:

71% of technicians say they are not fairly compensated. 32% say a 6–10% raise would help them feel adequately paid.
Only a quarter (25%) of technicians rate their mental health as “very good.”
Nearly half (48%) report they can barely meet their basic financial needs, and 76% say it’s harder to find a job than in past years.
Among surgical technologists, 68% report increased demand for surgical care—a signal that technician workloads will continue to rise without sufficient staffing.

As surgical demand and imaging needs grow, and hiring conditions tighten, our healthcare system needs to respond now in order to retain these skilled professionals and acknowledge the critical role they play in delivering safe, high-quality care.

Navigating headwinds: Political & economic pressures on the front lines

Today’s healthcare professionals are contending with mounting external pressures from cost-of-living challenges to national policy uncertainty in addition to navigating rising patient demand and workloads. These pressures are not just concerns. They are actively influencing how healthcare professionals think about their careers and future:

88% of nurses and technicians anticipate that potential Medicaid and Medicare cuts will negatively impact health systems.

63% of nurses believe the current political environment will affect their job or workplace.
55% of nurses and 78% of technicians say the housing market and interest rates have limited their ability to consider roles in other cities.

66% of nurses and technicians overall report that the macroeconomic climate has influenced their career choices or trajectory..

These are not just workforce challenges. They are care delivery challenges. As innovators and healthcare leaders, it is our collective responsibility to address the broader economic and policy conditions shaping the futures of our healthcare workforce.

Embracing innovation: AI emerges as a partner in care

Amid the challenges, we’re also seeing a moment of incredible promise. Healthcare workers are growing more comfortable with AI and are eager to learn more about it. Belief in AI’s potential to improve workflows and reduce administrative burden is growing fast, with only 38% of nurses now seeing AI as a threat compared to 64% last year. The shift is clear:

85% of nurses want more training in how to use AI.
Nurses are most optimistic about AI’s potential to: Save time on administrative tasks (40%), increase process efficiency (36%), and improve technical training (34%)

As we look toward the future, this openness offers a hopeful mandate for innovation led by collaboration with the healthcare workforce.

The time to act is now

This report offers healthcare leaders a generational opportunity: to redesign the systems that support our healthcare workforce around the people who power it. It’s not just about recruitment or retention. It’s about creating thriving environments where healthcare workers feel valued, supported, and empowered to focus on what matters most: delivering exceptional care.

The future of healthcare will be defined by how we support the people who deliver it. There is a way forward and it’s grounded in listening closely, acting boldly, and using the technology and tools available to us. That includes investing in career progression, fair and transparent compensation, building in real flexibility, and strengthening mental health support. Also encouraging lifelong learning, particularly around new innovations like AI is key.

The time to lead is now. Together, we can build a healthcare system that meets the growing demands of tomorrow while supporting the healthcare workers who make it all possible today.

As the largest software and AI-enabled career marketplace for healthcare workers, Incredible Health is free to all nurses and technicians and helps them plan and manage their careers. Over 1 million US nurses and thousands of technicians use the platform to land permanent roles across 1,500 acute and non-acute employers, access free resources and tools, and receive free one-on-one support from coaches regarding career decisions. The marketplace helps hospitals, home health organizations, and ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) quickly hire and retain top, permanent healthcare workers while saving millions per year per facility in temporary staff, overtime, and HR costs, and growing and expanding their organizations.

You can download the visual report that includes more data from 2025’s 6th Annual State of U.S. Nurses & Technicians Report here.

If you’re a nurse or technician looking to take control of your career and access Incredible Health’s suite of services for free, support is available here.

If you’re a healthcare leader looking for a better way to hire permanent nurse and technician talent, find out more here.

Methodology

We analyzed data from more than 1,000,000 Incredible Health nurses and technicians as of April 2025. We also surveyed over 2,300 nurses and over 150 technicians in the United States in April 2025.

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Incredible Health Expands Career Opportunities to Permanent Technicians and Grows AI Marketplace to Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Home Health

Feb 26 2025

At Incredible Health, we believe that empowering healthcare professionals to find and do their best work isn’t just our mission—it’s our responsibility. Today, I’m thrilled to share a bold new chapter in our journey.

Building on our success with over 1 million U.S. nurses and 1,500 U.S. hospitals, we are expanding career opportunities for permanent technicians, and extending our reach to Home Health organizations and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs).

As the first and largest AI-powered career marketplace dedicated to healthcare professionals, this expansion advances our industry by creating new pathways for healthcare professionals to find fulfilling careers, and for healthcare organizations to build stronger, more resilient teams.

A new era for technician careers

The next major healthcare workforce crisis isn’t coming—it’s already here. The U.S. is facing a shortfall of 3.2 million allied healthcare workers by 2026, delaying patient access to surgeries, imaging, and critical care. Despite making up 60% of the healthcare workforce, technicians face long hiring timelines, limited visibility into career opportunities, and fragmented career development resources.

Each day a technician position remains unfilled it directly impacts patient outcomes, including delayed surgeries, backed-up imaging schedules, and slower care delivery. With today’s Incredible Health launch of healthcare’s first hiring marketplace for permanent technicians, this critical group of healthcare professionals can now:

Access Incredible Health’s free platform showcasing career opportunities across multiple healthcare settings, and have employers apply to them
Land a permanent job in 20 days or less with the help of our AI-driven marketplace, tailored to their skills and career goals
Plan long-term career growth with specialized tools and resources
Connect directly with employers who value their expertise
Eliminate the endless cycle of applications and waiting

Whether specializing in surgical technology, radiology, laboratory sciences, or other critical areas, technicians can now take control of their career trajectory. Incredible Health is live for technicians in 9 key states, including California, New York, and Texas, with a bold plan to expand nationwide by the end of 2025.

Elevating careers in Home Health and Ambulatory Surgery Centers

Home Health employment is projected to grow by 21% over the next decade, and ASCs expect an 18% increase in surgical volume by 2033. For healthcare professionals, this evolution opens doors to exciting career paths that may better align with their goals, preferences, and passion for patient care. With Incredible Health’s expanded platform, over 200,000 nurses are already seeking Home Health positions, while experienced OR nurses and surgical techs are finding fulfilling roles in ASCs.

For Home Health organizations and ASCs, Incredible Health is offering a better way to find experienced talent to fill critical roles. Nurses hired at Home Health organizations through Incredible Health have, on average, 8 years of experience—a critical factor in home health, where nurses often work independently. Greater experience ensures high-quality, consistent care, improving patient outcomes and reducing hospital readmissions. Nurses hired at ASCs through Incredible Health average 12 years of experience, helping improve the quality of care.

Healthcare organizations are seeing transformative results: faster hiring, substantial cost savings, higher retention rates, and an enhanced ability to meet growing patient demand. Plus, by reducing reliance on temporary labor, they’re saving at least $5 million annually per facility. We’re already trusted by 15 Home Health organizations and 50 ASCs, alongside our established network of 1,500 hospitals and over 1 million U.S. nurses.

Shaping the future of healthcare careers

This expansion marks a new chapter in our journey, but it’s just the beginning. As healthcare continues to evolve, we’re committed to leading the innovation, ensuring that every healthcare professional has access to opportunities that help them live better lives and do their best work.Whether you’re a technician looking to advance your career, a nurse interested in exploring Home Health or ASC settings, or a healthcare organization seeking to build a stronger permanent workforce, Incredible Health is here to help you succeed. Together, we’re creating a future where healthcare professionals have more choices, better opportunities, and greater control over their careers.

Your Career, Your Terms: Incredible Health Launches Direct Connect – Fast-Track Your Nursing Job Search

Dec 10 2024

Nurses often find themselves forced to settle for jobs out of necessity rather than passion, feeling like they have little control over their career paths. At Incredible Health, we’re changing that narrative. We empower nurses to take charge of their careers, connecting them with permanent roles that align with their skills, values, and aspirations.

That’s why we launched Direct Connect, a feature designed to give nurses control of their careers. With Direct Connect, you can directly request interviews with recruiters from the Incredible Health app, streamlining your path to your dream nursing role.

How Direct Connect works

Job searching can often be frustrating and time-consuming, but Direct Connect puts you back in control. Here’s how it works:

Discover matches: Review personalized job matches tailored to your skills and preferences.
Request interviews: Skip the waiting game—send interview requests directly to recruiters.
Schedule on your terms: Choose from interview times that fit your schedule, for faster scheduling.

Designed for Your Success

Since its launch in 2024, Direct Connect has transformed the job search process for nurses by:

Cutting time to schedule an interview in half, reducing response times
Connecting nurses directly with recruiters for faster engagement
Boosting job offer success rates by 8x

Why Direct Connect Matters

Your work is vital to the healthcare system and your career should reflect your worth and aspirations. With Direct Connect, you regain control over your journey. As one nurse, Cristina Sumido, RN, BSN, shared:

“Finding Incredible Health was a game changer for me. I feel in control of my career in ways I never thought possible. Instead of feeling trapped in a draining, unproductive job search, I can focus on what truly matters—providing patient care and making a difference.”

We’re proud to be a trusted partner for over 1,500 hospitals nationwide, including leading systems like Ascension, Baylor Scott & White, Johns Hopkins Health System, and Cedars-Sinai. With Incredible Health, hospitals now hire nurses in 20 days or less, helping you transition into your dream role faster.

Your Career, Your Terms

Incredible Health flips the hiring process on its head. Sign in or create a Incredible Health profile to get personalized job matches. No more endless applications or waiting around.

Ready to take the next step? Try Direct Connect today to take charge of your job search.

Incredible Health Launches Powerful New Features to Drive Health System Growth

Dec 10 2024

At Incredible Health, we’re on a mission to help healthcare professionals live better lives and find and do their best work. Part of that is transforming healthcare hiring and redefining how health systems grow in a way that is sustainable for the nursing workforce. As we enter the final month of 2024, health systems are looking ahead to ambitious goals for the coming year: reducing reliance on costly temporary labor, expanding their operations, and driving financial performance. Yet, the critical path to achieving these goals often hinges on solving one of the industry’s toughest challenges: filling high-demand, permanent nursing roles.

Specialized nursing roles in units like medical surgical and the operating rooms are critical for delivering high-quality care and driving operational success for health systems. Yet, traditional hiring methods often fail to meet the demand, leaving these essential positions vacant and forcing health systems to depend on costly temporary labor, reduce services, or slow expansion efforts. Incredible Health is stepping in to change that dynamic. With the launch of our new features, Spotlight Jobs and Direct Connect, we’re empowering health systems to address these challenges head-on, transforming how they recruit and retain permanent nursing talent.

This momentum comes at a pivotal time. Capital spending in healthcare is surging in 2024, as health systems are eager to scale, innovate, and future-proof their operations. Yet, none of this growth is possible without first addressing the labor gaps that threaten to derail progress. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce the launch of our powerful new features, now live for all Incredible Health users, designed to tackle these workforce challenges and drive meaningful impact for both health systems and nurses.

These features include:

Spotlight Jobs – Specialized and leadership nursing roles are vital to health systems’ success but remain the most challenging to fill. Incredible Health’s Spotlight Jobs aligns the health system leaders’ priorities with their recruiting teams, enabling them to hire these high-priority permanent positions 76% faster than traditional methods. Through Incredible Health’s nationwide permanent nurse talent network and Spotlight Jobs, health systems are able to meet the unique healthcare needs of the communities they serve.
Direct Connect – With Direct Connect, nurses can jump to the front of the line, and directly schedule interviews with employers for roles that fit their skills and values. The payoff? Nurses are 8x more likely to accept job offers, accelerating qualified hires and boosting career opportunities for today’s healthcare workforce.

This launch is just one example of how the Incredible Health team has expanded and empowered nurses and health systems to address evolving healthcare needs in 2024 and beyond. This time last year, we became the first healthcare career marketplace to implement generative AI into our product. Earlier in 2024, we published two reports revealing new findings for the industry – our Fifth Annual State of US Nursing Report and our Healthcare Executive Report. We also emphasized the importance of policy education by launching a Healthcare Policy Navigator to keep nurses informed during the 2024 presidential election.

I’m thrilled to be closing out this year with our award-winning marketplace reaching major milestones – and even more humbled to have recently made it on the TIME100 NEXT list. Our AI-powered marketplace is now used by 66% of US metro areas, and over 1,500 hospital locations – from big health systems like Tenet Healthcare and Ascension to large regional systems like Baylor Scott & White Health and Wellstar, and academic medical centers like Johns Hopkins Health System, NewYork-Presbyterian, Cedars-Sinai, and many others. Now with Incredible Health, health systems hire permanent nurses in 20 days or less and save an average of $5 million per year per facility.

“Navigating a time-consuming job search as a nurse is exhausting – but finding Incredible Health was a game changer for me,” said Cristina Sumido, RN, BSN, “I can’t say enough about how supportive and easy it’s been to use Incredible Health’s apps to find a new job. I feel in control over my career in ways that I never thought possible. Instead of feeling trapped in a draining, unproductive job search, I can focus on what truly matters – providing patient care and making a difference.”

Reflecting on our company’s growth over the past 7 years, we’ve cracked the code to smarter, faster nurse hiring by flipping the traditional process on its head. Now, qualified, specialized nurses can create an Incredible Heath profile and take charge of their nursing career—no more endless applications, delays and being ignored. It’s a game-changer for both nurses and employers, and we aren’t stopping here. As we head into the new year, we’re buzzing with excitement about the growth and momentum we’ve achieved, and we can’t wait to build upon it and revolutionize hiring for health systems even further.

Find more information on how Incredible Health helps empower nurses to take control of their careers here.

Are you a health system executive or recruiter? Incredible Health can help your health system hire permanent nurses faster. Learn more here.

Your Voice, Your Vote: Introducing the Healthcare Policy Navigator for Nurses

Sep 17 2024

Nurses are uniquely positioned to influence the future of healthcare. The challenges nurses face—whether related to mental health, workplace safety, or expanding education and skills—are deeply influenced by policy decisions made at all levels of government, and by licensing boards. But what if there was a way to not only stay informed about these policies but also influence them?

At Incredible Health, we believe that every healthcare worker deserves a safe, supportive work environment, access to mental health support, and opportunities to grow their skills and education. With more than one million nurses in our community, our mission commits us to helping healthcare professionals live better lives and find and do their best work.

That’s why we launched the Healthcare Policy Navigator for Nurses ahead of our upcoming national election season, a tool designed to empower nurses and healthcare leaders to stay informed and influence the policies that matter most to them. Our Healthcare Policy Navigator for Nurses features clear calls to action, making it simpler for nurses and healthcare leaders to engage in the legislative process and advocate for the changes they want to see in their workplace and beyond.

“Nurses are critical to our healthcare system and patient care, yet they are often left out of the conversations that directly impact their profession. With tools like Incredible Health’s Healthcare Policy Navigator for Nurses, nurses are given the power to understand and actively participate in shaping the policies that impact them,” said J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA, CEO & Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

“We must always ensure that healthcare legislation is informed by those who are on the frontlines every day and that nurses feel empowered and equipped to advocate for their rights and working conditions.”
J. Corey Feist, JD, MBA, CEO & Co-Founder of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation

What you’ll find in the navigator:

Nurse Mental Health and Wellbeing: Learn about key legislation, such as the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, aimed to improve access to and reduce the stigma of mental health treatment for healthcare workers. With the ongoing nursing shortage, addressing burnout and improving access to mental health resources is more critical than ever. Explore how you can advocate for the reauthorization and funding of this essential bill and find additional resources like our Nurse Wellness Toolkit, where all U.S. nurses can access free tools, expert tips, and resources to support their mental health.
Educational Support: The future of nursing depends on investment in education. The navigator highlights legislative efforts like the Stop Nurse Shortages Act and the Future Advancement of Academic Nursing (FAAN) Act, which aim to expand nursing programs, increase clinical training opportunities, and provide financial support for students — especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. Policies like these aim to increase the supply of qualified healthcare workers, which is especially critical as the US faces a nursing shortage that 90% of healthcare executives surveyed in Incredible Health’s 2024 Healthcare Executive Report predict will worsen in the coming years.
Workplace Safety and Violence: Nurses deserve a safe working environment. According to Incredible Health’s 2024 State of US Nursing Report, (50%) of nurses have been verbally and/or physically assaulted by a patient or a member of the patient’s family within the past year. Our navigator outlines initiatives such as the Workplace Violence Prevention for Health Care and Social Service Workers Act, which calls for comprehensive violence prevention plans within healthcare settings. You’ll also find links to resources like the American Nurses Association’s safety resource guide, designed to support nurses and advocate for safer work environments.

“Voting is one of the most powerful tools nurses have to influence the policies that shape their profession and care delivery. However, many nurses may not realize how deeply their work environment and healthcare systems at large are affected by legislative, regulatory, and political decisions,” said nurse economist Shawna Butler, RN MBA.

“Incredible Health’s Healthcare Policy Navigator empowers nurses by giving them easy access to crucial policy information and the tools they need to educate themselves, colleagues, and voters. With this knowledge, they can make informed voting decisions that not only advocate for their interests and concerns but also drive positive change in healthcare.”
Shawna Butler, RN MBA — Nurse economist

By exploring these sections in the Navigator and more, you’ll gain insight into key issues affecting the nursing profession and policies that can help improve working conditions for nurses nationwide. Most importantly, the Healthcare Policy Navigator for Nurses makes it easy to take action—whether advocating for legislation, contacting your state board, or simply staying informed.

Together, we can empower nurses to drive the change they deserve.

Explore the Healthcare Policy Navigator for Nurses here

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