Burnout

The United States is facing a severe nurse shortage.

This crisis has left hospitals struggling to find enough nurses to meet the demands of their patients.

The issue is complex, and the solution is not straightforward. However, it is important to understand what is causing the nursing shortage, when it started, and what can be done to improve it.

Academic medical centers are specialized institutions that combine medical education, research, and clinical care to advance patient care, medical knowledge, and the practice of medicine. These centers include teaching hospitals, research laboratories, and affiliations with medical schools.

The past few years have brought changes in how academic medical centers hire and what technology they’re using to screen and process new hires. Explore three key challenges they face in their recruitment and hiring processes.

HR professionals remain busy in 2023 as they grapple with a tight labor market, economic uncertainty, rapidly changing technology, and more.

Explore three trends healthcare HR leaders should track as they manage their workforce this year and beyond.

1. Automating HR Processes

Many organizations across industries run on legacy systems, and healthcare is no exception. Many of these outdated systems keep healthcare organizations running and help them manage patient information.

Physician burnout has been an increasing concern since the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), physician burnout is a long-term stress reaction that may express itself as emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (an attitude of indifference or lack of empathy), and a reduced sense of achievement.

Everyone experiences a difficult day or even week on the job. When an employee develops burnout, however, they can experience chronic stress and exhaustion. They may feel cynical, frustrated, and ineffective at their job. This can reduce productivity, increase turnover, and, in clinical roles, lead to medical errors that can put patients in danger.

The COVID-19 pandemic irrevocably shaped the healthcare industry as we know it. As a result, healthcare providers face many challenges as society returns to a semblance of normalcy, especially when it comes to the workforce.

Here are the top three workforce challenges healthcare providers must address in our new normal:

Since the pandemic began, roles have been moved around within healthcare systems to fill urgent needs. Clinicians have been overworked and fatigued, and all of this disruption has affected patient safety outcomes. Preventable central-line associated bloodstream infections, for example, have risen 51% compared to pre-pandemic rates.