Home Health Care It’s a clinician’s market: Why the healthcare industry should embrace the great...

It’s a clinician’s market: Why the healthcare industry should embrace the great resignation

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I know what it’s like to feel stuck and discouraged with your career. I graduated from college eager to make a dent in the healthcare space. Instead, I got a front-row seat to our broken and slow-moving industry, where patients buy their insulin on the black market and fax machines are often the primary mode of communication.

While I eventually returned to healthcare after a decade-long detour, I spent a healthy amount of time rethinking my priorities and figuring out my own path. That’s why I have a lot of empathy for the millions of people quitting their jobs and questioning their livelihoods. Dubbed the “Great Resignation,” employers are in panic mode as the number of two-week notices continues to pile up.

But if there’s any industry experiencing a shock to the system, it’s healthcare. Just as Covid-19 cases started rising and ICUs reached full capacity again, doctors and nurses started walking away in droves and refused to look back. And even inflated salaries and massive hiring bonuses did little to budge critical shortages.

As a founder and CEO with a background in recruiting, I know the effort it takes to find great talent. I also know that one of the fastest ways to lose great talent is to keep doing things the way they’ve always been done. If the healthcare industry doesn’t radically rethink their approach to cultivating and supporting their workforce, the resignations will keep piling up. Yes, it’s a bitter pill to swallow. But it’s also the shot in the arm this industry needs.

Look to the data 

The first step is to ask doctors and nurses why they’re turning away and what will get them to stay. They may not be motivated by a $15,000 hiring bonus or a 20% salary increase. Instead, they may ask for the flexibility to regularly sit on the sidelines for their daughter’s soccer practice or the financial support to expand their skill set with continuing education. Their primary motivator may be working under a high-performing leadership team with a clear vision, or they may be looking for greater internal communication and appreciation for their team. Rather than assuming what their employees want, healthcare organizations need to gather and analyze the data to determine what is actually driving turnover and retention.

A discouraged and demoralized workforce

It’s just as important to recognize what employees may not ask for but need. The call to care for others is admirable; it also comes with significant costs. While extreme burnout is often cited as one of the reasons clinicians are turning away from their profession, it’s important to recognize that doctors and nurses are discouraged and demoralized. Early on they were celebrated as heroes, and now they’re dealing with patients who refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated. And many of the clinicians who are being heavily recruited today were handed pink slips less than two years ago. Nurses and doctors, just like any other employee, want to know they’re more than a cog in the machine. They want to know that their commitment to their patients is met with a similar commitment from their employer. And they want the acknowledgement that when they’re in crisis mode, the entire organization suffers.

It’s time to think big and think differently

Finally, healthcare organizations must recognize there is no Band-Aid solution that can properly address the momentum behind the Great Resignation. Even if gaps are closed in the short term, the industry is still fighting an uphill battle against an aging and retiring workforce — plus how to manage the long-term outcomes of a chronically sick population that largely delayed care during the pandemic. The shift is already underway with more than 60% of healthcare organizations adjusting their care models due to workforce constraints. But rather than continuing to get by with inefficient workflows and antiquated tech, it’s time for healthcare organizations to think big and think differently. Just like their employees are doing.

For close to two years, our ailing healthcare system has strained against the weight of a global pandemic. And now it’s no surprise that many of those who were holding it up are giving up out of sheer exhaustion and frustration. Unfortunately, clinicians have been treated as commodities for decades, despite the fact that they’re the connective tissue within the industry. But if I can be convinced to return to working in healthcare, then I know the millions of doctors and nurses who have dedicated their lives to their patients will follow. This is the time to embrace radical empathy, profound change, and bold ideas. While the pandemic may have put us all on an unexpected path, there is no turning back from here.

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