The
title of the Mississippi Hospital Association’s
(MHA’s) annual Leadership Conference in July is
“The Top Three Things that Keep Health Care Leaders
Awake at Night: Managing Mission, Manpower and Money.”
It’s safe to say that workforce issues are at the
top of the worry list of most health care administrators.
And not without reason.
Fitch Ratings, an internationally known financial rating
agency, reports that the shortage of nurses and other
personnel continues to present one of the greatest challenges
for health care providers nationwide. Fitch says that
while many hospitals are developing innovative strategies
for workforce development, and federal, state and local
governments are creating programs and providing financial
support to help alleviate shortages, the benefits of many
of these initiatives may not be realized for years.
The credit rating agency expects providers to continue
to experience inflating salary and benefit expenses with
growing use of temporary staffing and competitive pressure
to increase overall compensation. Fitch expects labor
cost inflation to offset any improvement in other areas
from operational efficiencies or favorable rate increases
from managed care payers.
Mississippi hospitals treat a population with one of the
highest incidences of many severe diseases but are paid
less by Medicare than any other hospitals in the nation.
In addition, we are facing escalating costs—driven
to a large degree by the malpractice situation in the
state—yet we compete for nurses on a regional and
(due to the traveling nurse opportunities) often a national
basis. The workforce problem is compounded for rural hospitals.
They are often paid less than the hospitals in bigger
cities but must pay higher wages for professional staff
in order to entice them to live in rural areas.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services,
the demand for health care services will likely climb
40% from 2000-2020 versus a projected 6% growth in the
number of nurses. Mississippi’s Office of Nursing
Workforce (ONW) recently reported that out of the 86 hospitals
across the state that responded to their 2003 survey,
most reported a need for staff RNs and medical/surgical
RNs. And RN needs are expected to increase in several
areas that graduates will only be able to fill as they
gain clinical experience—case management, quality
improvement, in-service education and patient education.
These areas are expected to see an increased need of five
to 10 percent over the next two years, according to figures
from Dr. Kim Hoover, director of research for ONW.
But temporary staff is not the solution to our workforce
problem. We need our Mississippi graduates to stay in
Mississippi. (About 85% of nursing graduates do stay in
state the first year but the numbers of those leaving
increase as experience in the field is gained.) We need
to encourage young people and older adults looking for
a second career into the health care field. MHA’s
Health Careers Center, established in May of 2002, was
created to do just that. And we have made inroads, but
we still have a long way to go.
The Health Careers Center, which can be found at www.mshealth
careers.com, has a Web site dedicated solely to promoting
Mississippi health care careers, opportunities and educational
institutions nationwide. The Web site also has special
tools for educators, counselors and recruiters to use
in their promotion of health careers. The Center has recently
added a job board, www.mshealthjobs.com, that allows job
seekers to post resumes and search job listings and allows
recruiters to post health care openings and search resume
databases.
Researchers estimate that it will be 2013 before enough
nursing graduates move through the system to fill the
demand for hires. And vacancy rates for other key positions
are increasing at alarming rates. Hospitals are working
together to fund nursing instructor positions at community
colleges and universities, provide scholarships for capable
health care students and increase interest in the health
care career field. Please join us in spreading the word
about the importance of keeping quality health care professionals
in our communities and our state. Together, we can make
a difference. DBJ
(Jimmy Blessitt is Chairman of the Board,
Mississippi Hospital Association and Administrator, South
Sunflower County Hospital, Indianola )
Key statistics found in the report include:
6% - National Nursing Vacancy Rate, All Providers
13% - National Nursing Vacancy Rate, Hospitals
29% - Predicted National Nursing Vacancy Rate by 2020
16% - Highest National Nursing Vacancy Rate
found in Florida, Maryland, Arizona
50% - National Turnover Rate of Staff Nurses, Nursing
Homes
15% - National Turnover Rate of Staff Nurses, Hospitals
5.4% - Percent of Nurses Who are Male
National
vacancy rates
for key professionals:
21% - Pharmacists
18% - Radiological technicians
18% - Billing coders
12% - Laboratory technologists
