I know what it feels like to feel trapped and frustrated in your career. I graduated from university and am eager to make a difference in the field of healthcare. Instead, I occupy a front row position in our broken and slow-growing industry, where patients buy insulin on the black market, and fax machines are usually the main means of communication.
Although I finally returned to the healthcare field after ten years of detours, I spent a lot of time rethinking my priorities and figuring out my own path. This is why I sympathize with millions of people who have resigned and questioned their livelihoods. Employers called “great resignations” are in a state of panic because of the increasing number of two-week notices.
But if any industry is hit by the system, it is healthcare.Just when Covid-19 cases started to rise and the ICU was running at full capacity again, doctors and nurses started Walking away Refusing to look back in droves.Even inflated wages and Huge recruitment bonus The serious shortage problem has hardly been solved.
As a founder and CEO with a background in recruiting, I know how hard it takes to find outstanding talents. I also know that one of the fastest ways to lose good people is to continue to do things the way they have always been. If the healthcare industry does not fundamentally reconsider how they train and support employees, the number of resignations will continue to increase. Yes, this is a bitter medicine that is hard to swallow. But this is also a shot in the arm that this industry needs.
Look at the data
The first step is to ask the doctors and nurses why they are leaving and what makes them stay. They may not be motivated by the $15,000 recruitment bonus or the 20% salary increase. Instead, they may ask for the flexibility to watch their daughter’s football practice regularly, or ask for financial support to expand their skills through continuing education. Their main motivation may be to work under a high-performance leadership team with a clear vision, or they may be seeking more internal communication and appreciation for the team. Healthcare organizations do not need to assume what employees want, but rather need to collect and analyze data to determine what really drives turnover and retention.
A discouraged and demoralized workforce
It is equally important to recognize what employees may not need but what they need. The call to care for others is admirable; it also comes with huge costs. Although extreme burnout is often mentioned as one of the reasons that clinicians abandon their profession, it is important to recognize the discouragement and low morale of doctors and nurses. Earlier, they were called heroes, and now they are dealing with patients who refuse to wear masks or get vaccinated. Many clinicians recruited in large numbers today received pink sheets less than two years ago. Nurses and doctors, like any other employee, want to know that they are more than just a cog on the machine. They want to know that their promises to patients are met by similar promises from their employers. They want to admit that when they are in crisis mode, the entire organization is affected.
It’s time to start from the big picture and think in a different way
Finally, healthcare organizations must recognize that no band-aid solution can properly respond to the momentum behind the big resignation. Even if the gap closes in the short term, the industry is still fighting an uphill battle with an aging and retired workforce—and how to manage the long-term consequences of a chronically ill population whose care has been largely delayed during the pandemic.Transformation is already in progress More than 60% of medical institutions Due to labor constraints, adjust their care model. But instead of continuing to endure inefficient workflows and outdated technology, it’s time for healthcare organizations to look at the big picture and think in a different way. Just like their employees do.
For the past two years, our dying health care system has been under the pressure of a global pandemic. Now it’s no surprise that many people who insisted on it gave up because of exhaustion and frustration. Unfortunately, for decades, clinicians have been treated as commodities, even though they are connective tissues in the industry. But if I can be persuaded to return to work in the healthcare field, then I know that millions of doctors and nurses who have dedicated their lives to patients will follow suit. Now is the time to embrace radical empathy, profound change and bold ideas. Although the pandemic may have all of us embarked on an unexpected path, there is no turning back from here.
