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Staffing shortages have been a serious problem for healthcare organizations for longer than you might realize. Throughout the years, worker shortages have negatively affected healthcare professionals and organizations. Fortunately, advances in technology can help address many of the issues that caused staffing shortages in the first place.
In the 1960s, the United States saw its first shortage of primary care physicians. The medical community responded to the shortage by introducing mid-level practitioners; the government created the 1963 Health Professions Education Assistance Act to provide financial assistance to help boost medical school attendance.
Nursing shortages come in cycles. The first was in the 1930s, when people began to go to the hospital more often, thereby putting a strain on the available pool of nurses. The next shortage occurred during WWII, when the armed forces needed nurses to care for wounded soldiers. Nurse shortages have continued throughout the years.
The United States continues to face significant healthcare staffing shortages. The U.S. lost an estimated 200,000 registered nurses between 2020 and 2022, for example, and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) predicts the nation will face a physician shortage of up to 86,000 doctors by 2036.
The negative effects of staffing shortages can be significant. Staffing shortages can compromise patient care, increase wait times, and lead to spikes in medical errors and patient mortality. Being short-staffed can increase workloads, raise turnover, and trigger burnout.
Staffing shortages in healthcare can create a vicious cycle: being short-staffed increases workload and stress on remaining staff, being overworked and stressed out increases the risk of burnout, burnout causes healthcare professionals to leave their jobs and the staffing shortage worsens.
Successfully Managing Staffing Shortages in Healthcare Requires Better Options in Shift Scheduling
Overcoming staffing shortages in hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare settings requires a multipronged approach:
• Boosting the pipeline of healthcare professionals
• Increasing efficiency by leveraging technology, such as telehealth
• Redesigning care models to accomplish more with available staff
• Increasing pay
• Using a top-of-the-line flexible shift scheduling system
While increases in pay and other measures can help an organization attract new workers, using a flexible shift scheduling system can help them keep their existing workers. As with other workers, healthcare professionals are interested in improving their life/work-life balance. Providing flexible scheduling is one of the best ways to help doctors and nurses avoid burnout, as this type of shift scheduling allows them to swap shifts, accept additional work, or take some much-needed time off.
For more information about the benefits of using a flexible shift scheduling system to stop the cycle of staffing shortages, consult with ByteBloc. Founded by an emergency physician more than 30 years ago, ByteBloc Software offers flexible shift scheduling software. Our emergency medicine scheduling is used by emergency departments in all 50 states, as well as in Canada and several other countries. The scheduling software is easily adaptable to applications outside emergency medicine, making it an essential tool for nearly any type of nurse or physician scheduling.
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