Respond to at least two of your classmates’ postings. Responses should be at least 100 words or more
Week Three
Mario Enriquez (students name)
In the article “1,000 U.S. Hospitals are Critically Short on Staff – And More Expect To Be Soon”, we see that the United States had a shortage of hospital staff all over the 50 states. It was reported that states were suffering such as North Dakota, where 51% of the hospitals reported saying that they are facing shortages. As a future healthcare leader, there is a huge challenge to increase these numbers and it will continue to be that way. In the Military healthcare system, we are seeing a shortage of hospital workers as well, for the first time in a while, we are undermanned with medical personnel. We have seen an increase of burnout and an increase in personnel needing mental health care. Another challenge that has come from the pandemic is trust. There have been many times where hospitals required staff so badly that if you may have been a close contact with COVID-19, they would still put you to work. In fact, the CDC recommended that if you were positive for COVID-19, you would be isolated for 5 days instead of 10 (if asymptomatic). People started distrusting their leadership and quit because of situations like this.
As healthcare leaders, we will definitely need a change to bring people back into healthcare. One way that we can bring people back in is by incentives. If we offer high bonuses and benefits, people will come back. These benefits have to include paid time off, better pay, access to healthcare services, and more training. We need to invest into our employees to make them feel like they are wanted and they are a family. We also need to work on leadership tactics to make sure that we don’t lose trust.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.). Interim guidance for managing healthcare personnel with SARS-COV-2 infection or exposure to SARS-COV-2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/guidance-risk-assesment-hcp.html
Covid-19 as Catalyst. Deloitte Insights. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/health-care/health-care-workforce-trends.html
McMinn, S., & Simmons-Duffin, S. (2020, November 21). 1,000 U.S. hospitals are ‘critically’ short on staff – and more expect to be soon. NPR. Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/11/20/937152062/1-000-u-s-hospitals-are-short-on-staff-and-more-expect-to-be-soon
Candice Huffsteter (students name)
As the nation continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and health systems nationwide have stepped up in many ways to serve the needs of their communities. Though hospital volumes have seen a sluggish recovery to pre-pandemic levels, there has been growing demand for services with an associated rise in patient acuity. Yet, this increased demand has not been met with an increased supply of staff, creating a staffing shortage that has forced hospitals to incur significant costs to recruit and retain employees. Some of the challenges and reasons I can see for health care staffing shortages are also emotional health and well-being of staff as a leader it will be important to create opportunities to check in with staff and give them opportunities to have wellness check-in and take care of themselves. The level of burnout coupled with ongoing COVID-19 surges, as well as other existing health care workforce pressures, has left hospitals across the country to contend with critical staffing shortages. While government support to date has been critical in helping hospitals weather the early financial challenges they have faced, the current staffing shortage presents a whole new set of challenges that will undoubtedly strain an already precarious financial situation.
References
Nancy Ochieng, P. C. (2022, April 4). Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved from KFF.ORG: https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/nursing-facility-staffing-shortages-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Young Entrepreneur Council. ( 2018, September 25). Forbes.com. Retrieved from Forbes.com: https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2018/09/25/12-traits-bad-bosses-have-in-common/?sh=2450eefe6266
Hyacinth, B. (2017, December 27). Employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/employees-dont-leave-companies-managers-brigette-hyacinth/
