The nursing industry is again going through a shortage crisis. As per this AP report, many hospitals and companies are desperate to get new hires. My favorite attempt mentioned was Residential Home Health, which provides in-home nursing for seniors on Medicare. They "lavished registered nurses and other health care workers with free champagne and a trivia contest hosted by game-show veteran Chuck Woolery. Prizes included a one-year lease for a 2009 SUV, hotel stays and dinners." First of all, I am so sad for Chuck Woolery. Has his life gotten that bad that he has to hang out at a nursing home or is he so old that he just lives there now?
The article focuses on recruitment and shows the many unique ways being used to get new hires including offering: chair massages, lavish catering and contests for flat-screen TVs, GPS devices, shopping sprees worth as much as $1,000, and gas cards. This is all well and good but the there has to be a bigger issue behind all of this. The key paragraph was this:
The shortage has been operating since World War II on an eight- to 10-year cycle, industry experts say. Each time the number of nurses reaches a critical low, the government adds funding and hospitals upgrade working conditions. But as the deficit eases, those retention efforts fade and eventually the old conditions return, often driving nurses into other professions.
The nursing shortage is very similar to the physician shortage, with primary care in particular. The philosophy has always been that “retention starts with recruitment” philosophy. You need to find the right physician to match the elements and the community. The right fit. More importantly, I think, is the reverse of this or “recruitment also starts with retention”. Satisfied physicians recruit better. There is a feeling of being a team and any recruited physician can feel that. It’s palpable. Upgrading working conditions applies to doctors as well. It is my opinion that after the first 6 months, employers start taking employees for granted and that is when they lose them. I have been unimpressed with the "physician retention programs" that are out there. The warning signs are on the horizon. As the physician shortage goes up the physician turnover rate goes up proportionately which overburdens those doctors that are left. All this leads to a vicious cycle that even Chuck Woolery won't be alble fix.
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3 comments:
I've been waiting for my retention bonus for 13 years. I work in a high turnover, highly specialized area (pediatric bone marrow transplant) which means I am hard to replace. The new grads hired last summer received a $7,500 sign on bonus. Who trained them? Me. For my hourly wage. I'm also waiting for my thank you note.
I can't speak to the nursing shortage problem, apart from the fact that the explanation of the dynamic interplay between giving nurses as little as possible until shortages arise, then sweetening the pot as needed sounds about right.
I'd say the shortages in medicine reflect the same economic pressures now being applied to a formerly independent but now captured national physician pool that has been systematically offered ever less for two decades now, a trend which it is reasonable was/is sure to continue until there aren't enough physicians to meat the societal burden and shortages appear or loom, as they say is now the case.
How much will they take from physicians, and how little will physicians take. Recently, we lost our free ball-point pens from pharmaceutical reps.
What's the message? You, doctor, alone among Americans, cannot be trusted to advocate for your patients if tempted by a pen, to not sell them out by prescribing them dangerous, expensive and unnecessary drugs for a bauble.
I'm tired of the indignity. What did physicians do to deserve such offensive abuse? Who else is treated like that? I can't wait to retire (which, incidentally, will be this summer at age 55).
As for the physician shortage, the solution is simple. Offer them a pen to stay. Apparently, the whores will do anything for one.
Shortage of nurses is a major concern. Its not about the package offered but its the kind of work that really matters. I suppose one should be counseled to take up job as a nurse when they are in high schools.
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