Despite the recession’s impact on the domestic job market, health care providers must continue to grow at a steady pace. Unlike other industries, health care is going through many changes that will require a larger workforce. We have talked about many areas of health care looking for quality candidates like physicians and hospital CEOs, but what about nurses?
Practices are beginning to rely on these professionals, as well as physician assistants, to reduce wait times for patients, but it appears that human resources departments aren’t hiring enough. The health care industry knows that it needs to bring in more nurses, but not every practice has the funding to do so.
Pennsylvania is one of many states with plans to implement a hiring freeze or layoffs in the coming months, according to Trib Live, a local publication.
Medicare payments to the Quaker State are expected to be eliminated by the end of the year, forcing hospitals and home care businesses to work with $800 million less. Even the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, one of the biggest health care facilities in western Pennsylvania, laid off nearly 300 workers and took down 200 job postings.
“Pennsylvania hospitals confront a changing and uncertain health care environment, mounting federal payment cuts and an economy that is still struggling,” the Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania CEO Andy Carter told Trib Live.
This is not to say that Pennsylvania doesn’t need these nurses, but now is not the time to look for additional practitioners. However, this is not the case in most parts of the U.S.
“It’s a wonderful time to be a nurse,” Lea Johnson, R.N., Ed.D, president of Maria College in Albany, New York, told the Boston Globe. “The future is ours.”
According to the Labor Department, the health care industry may experience a widespread hiring spree, one that will generate 5 million new jobs every year until 2022. As more Americans obtain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, hospitals and doctor offices alike will need to look for more staff members to offset demand. HR software solutions can help expedite this process years ahead, so practices don’t experience a worker shortage.
Similar to the ongoing physician shortage, the American Journal of Medical Quality estimated that the American health care system will experience a 900,000 registered nurse shortage by 2030 if hospitals don’t take initiatives to recruit nurses in the near future.