When nurses miss critical updates, patient care suffers

New research reveals the hidden costs of nurse communication failures, and they’re showing up in patient care, compliance risk, and retention.

Firstup surveyed 1,000 hospital nurses to understand how workplace communication impacts what hospital leaders care about most. Here’s what we found:

• 81% of nurses report experiencing patient care issues due to miscommunication or lack of communication from a manager or senior leadership
• 88% of nurses have experienced workplace issues due to miscommunication
• 1 in 3 nurses have considered leaving their department due to communication failures. According to the 2025 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, the cost to replace an RN is an average of $61,110, making communication breakdowns a significant driver of avoidable turnover expense.

The disconnect isn’t about volume or effort. It’s about delivery methods that can’t reach shift workers and messaging that buries critical updates in noise.

The findings reveal operational gaps with measurable consequences for patient safety, regulatory compliance, and workforce retention.

Download the full State of Nursing Communication report for complete data, cost analysis, and operational recommendations.