WASHINGTON – Fed up with long hours and low salaries, a significant number of nurses in Maine and across the country are on their way out of the profession, according to a survey released Thursday.

At least one in five nurses plans to leave the profession within the next five years because of poor working conditions, according to the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals’ survey.

They overwhelmingly want to leave the field for less stressful and less physically demanding jobs, according to the survey of 700 current direct-care nurses and more than 200 former direct-care nurses.

They also want a more predictable schedule, fewer hours, better benefits, the opportunity for advancement and higher salaries. The average pay for a Maine nurse is between $13 and $17 per hour, according to the Maine State Nurses Association. The report did not indicate how much nurses want to be paid.The federation report also stated the demand for nurses will continue to increase in the next few years, with an estimated 450,000 needed nationwide by 2008.

The federation is now calling on Congress to place a federal ban on requiring nurses to work overtime and to provide funding for nursing education to lure more people into the field. The nursing organization also wants Congress to establish federal standards on staffing levels in hospitals and other health care facilities.

The surveyed nurses said the best way to recruit and retain nurses is to lower the nurse to patient ratio, allow them to spend more time with their patients, and allow them more say in decisions. They also want to see more part-time options, continuing education funds and better health coverage.

Some federal lawmakers have taken notice of the problem and have introduced legislation recently to tackle several of the issues. Legislation is pending in the U.S. Senate to offer loan assistance to students seeking nursing degrees as a way to attract more people to the field.

A bill – similar to one introduced in the Maine Legislature this session – was introduced last month in the U.S. House to impose a federal ban on mandatory overtime beyond eight hours of work in one day and 80 hours in any 14-day work period.

Mandatory overtime has been a rising issue in Maine, particularly at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, where several nurses have formally complained about being required to work overtime because of staffing levels.

But the hospital industry says that mandatory overtime is rarely used and health care professionals usually go through several other steps before resorting to requiring a nurse to work beyond an eight-hour shift.

“It is a tool we feel is essential for managers to have,” said Carla Luggero, senior associate director for federal relations for the American Hospital Association. “If the choice is between no nurse or a tired nurse, it’s going to be the tired nurse that we ought to have.”

Federation officials also blame the cost pressure of managed care for much of the nursing shortage. Hospital visits have been cut by managed care to save money.

“More patients are treated on an outpatient basis,” said Sandra Feldman, president of the federation. “Very sick patients come in for a short amount of time and then have to come back.”

The problem for the Bangor Visiting Nurses Association is that nurses have turned away from home health care for hospital care, which offers higher salaries.

“We certainly are experiencing a shortage, particularly with home health care,” said Diane Gumprecht, a nursing supervisor for the association. “It affects our ability to accept patients and services in a timely manner.”

Maine officials said despite the unhappiness among nurses in the state, they still find it surprising that such a large number are considering leaving the field. At least 18 percent of the 22,000 licensed nurses in Maine are in non-nursing jobs.

“In a way, it’s surprising because nursing is like a cause,” said Patricia Philbrook, executive director of the Maine State Nurses Association. “But that gets taken away when you think you’re going to make a mistake and kill somebody.”