New survey finds growing burden on nurses

May 8, 2026

By Wesley Crampton, MedSpeed President  

National Nurses Week is an opportunity to recognize the vital role nurses play in delivering safe, timely, and compassionate care. It is also a moment to listen. A recent survey from American Nurse Journal delivers a clear and concerning message: medical courier challenges pose a greater impact on care delivery than healthcare leaders realize.

Ninety-eight percent of respondents reported that medical couriers have some degree of impact on clinical workflows in a typical week. Of those surveyed, 32 percent reporting that courier services have a significant impact on their work, highlighting the importance of consistent and reliable courier performance.

The survey also revealed insights on:

The frequency of delays and errors in courier services

• 95% of nurses report delays or errors impacting care at least once per month
• 48% experience these issues 5+ times per month

These issues are a consistent challenge in day-to-day clinical workflows.

The impact of courier errors on patient care and procedures

• 91% of nurses report at least one rescheduled procedure annually due to courier errors
• 29% of nurses report rescheduling procedures more than 5 times a year

These disruptions can delay care while also driving significant costs, with each procedure delay costing health systems approximately $4,500 on average.

The need for specimen recollection due to courier errors

• 94% report at least one recollection annually

• 56% report 5+ recollections per year

Repeated collections can extend turnaround times and affect the overall care experience while also increasing spend, with average health system currently spending more than $1 million on specimen recollection alone.

Nursing workarounds in response to courier errors

• 91% report creating “secret stashes” of supplies
• 87% have transported items themselves
• 80% have called alternative couriers

Every workaround pulls time and attention away from patients, while increasing spend on wasted supplies, duplicative couriers, and employee coverage.

Supporting nurses means fixing what slows them down

This Nurses Week, recognition matters, but so does action.

Nurses continue to show resilience, ingenuity, and an unwavering commitment to patient care. But the survey data makes one thing clear: they are being asked to do more to compensate for couriers that are falling short.

For health systems, this is a clear call to action. Courier performance is not a background function. It is a critical part of the care delivery infrastructure, and when it breaks down, the impact is felt immediately at the bedside. The trends in this survey show that traditional courier approaches are not keeping pace with the growing demands of modern healthcare.

Reversing these trends will require a renewed focus on reliability, accountability, and operational consistency in medical logistics.

It calls for a logistics partner that specializes in healthcare and is accountable for outcomes, not just activity – one that can deliver consistent, measurable performance. At MedSpeed, we’ve built our model around those principles. We align with clinical priorities, reduce variability, and provide the visibility, quality, and reliability that frontline teams depend on.

Thank you to nurses

Your work is the heart of the patient’s experience. This Nurses Week, and every week, we want to thank you for the care you provide, the problems you solve. You deserve support and systems that help you do your best work.

MedSpeed is proud to support nurses in that mission, helping ensure you have reliable logistics behind you so you can stay focused on what matters most: patient care.