Abstract
The sobering facts are clear: hospitals and health systems are facing a severe nursing shortage, with safe inpatient staffing approaching near-crisis levels. Safely staffing inpatient care is challenging. Stopping the exodus of nurses from acute care must be prioritized by the entire C-suite, with the chief nurse executive at the center of all decisions. Beyond aggressive retention strategies, different in-kind solutions to address the practice environment are nonnegotiable and help address nursing concerns about continued hospital employment.