The Top 10 Challenges Facing Healthcare

Workers
Written by Rachel Fields | April 05, 2011
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Here are the top 10 challenges facing healthcare workers, according to Chicago-based
Career Builder's Turnoverx: How to Cure the Retention Problems Ailing Your Health
Care Organization. The top 10 challenges are based on the top responses to the question,
"What are some of the challenges you face in your current position? If unemployed, what
were some of the challenges you faced in your most recent healthcare position?"
1. Lack of advancement opportunities. Fifty-one percent of healthcare workers said
lack of advancement opportunities posed a significant challenge in their current or
previous position. The number was slightly lower among nurses: 49 percent of nurses
identified advancement opportunities as a challenge, compared to 52 percent of other
healthcare professionals.
The CareerBuilder survey also asked healthcare professionals if their current or most
recent employer offered a number of different employee development programs,
including in-house skills training, education reimbursement, technology training and
opportunity for innovation. Of the 10 programs listed, only one in-house skills training
was answered "yes" by more than 50 percent of survey takers. Interestingly, employers
felt differently: In response to the same question, more than 50 percent of employers said
they offered in-house skills training, education reimbursement, flexible work schedules,
cross-training and the opportunity to mentor others.
2. Work overload. According to the CareerBuilder survey, the provider shortage is
hitting every healthcare organization in the country especially when it comes to
nurses. Forty percent of healthcare workers responded that they felt challenged by work
overload at their jobs ; the number jumped to 48 percent when the pool was limited to
only nurses. The survey also identified a key turnover issue in healthcare workers taking
on additional responsibilities above their comfort level. The provider shortage means
fewer staff members must divide a significant workload, pushing some employees to the
brink of exhaustion and decreasing job satisfaction considerably.
3. Poor salary. Forty percent of healthcare employees believed poor salary was an issue
at their jobs . CareerBuilder researchers found it interesting that salary was ranked so
low; while 40 percent identified the problem as a major challenge, almost as many people
(37 percent) said the poor culture of the organization was a challenge. While
administrators might assume that salary is the number one driver behind employee

retention, the results suggest otherwise: Creating a work environment where employees
are encouraged to pursue goals is more important than providing competitive pay. For
nurses, poor salary was less of an issue, with 35 percent of nurses citing salary as a
problem compared to 42 percent of other healthcare workers.
4. Too few staff. The challenge of too few staff (cited by 38 percent of respondents) is
unsurprising considering the provider shortage. CareerBuilder's labor pressure analysis
rates shortages around a value of one, which indicates an equal number of job seekers to
new postings. The average pressure ratio between Oct. 2009 and Oct. 2010 for registered
nurses was 0.26, suggesting more positions exist than qualified candidates. To put the
number in perspective, analysis pressures for the same time period were 0.71 for
accountants and auditors, 2.12 for customer service representatives and 3.72 for
secretaries. In addition, selected healthcare positions are expected to grow substantially
from 2008-2018: Registered nurse positions are predicted to experience a 22 percent
increase, physician assistants a 39 percent increase and LPNs a 21 percent increase.
5. Poor organizational culture. Poor culture was cited as a challenge by 37 percent of
respondents, with 41 percent of nurses calling it a problem compared to 34 percent of
other healthcare professionals. Factors that contribute to culture such as opportunity
for innovation, autonomy in an employee's position and flexible work schedules were
listed as available by less than 50 percent of employees in all cases, and only one-quarter
of healthcare workers thought opportunity for innovation was encouraged at their
institutions. CareerBuilder concluded that offering such programs plays a huge role in
recruitment and retention, as well as making employees aware of available opportunities.
Based on the differences in perception about programs offered in the CareerBuilder
survey, many healthcare workers are unaware their organizations offer development and
incentive programs.
6. Lack of mentoring. Twenty-five percent of healthcare employees felt their
organization offered too little mentoring. Only 37 percent of employees thought their
organizations provided the opportunity to mentor others, compared to 59 percent of
employers. This discrepancy suggests that mentoring opportunities are available but not
well-publicized.
7. Poor personal fit with boss. Almost one-quarter of healthcare workers felt they
suffered from a poor personal fit with their boss. The number was far higher for
supervisors than for co-workers; only 10 percent of employees cited a poor personal fit
with their colleagues as a major challenge.
8. Limited or not enough access to technology. As healthcare organizations struggle to
implement technology while maintaining efficient operations, their workers may be
suffering. Twenty-three percent of healthcare professionals felt they had insufficient
access to technology; the number was slightly higher for registered nurses at 29 percent.
Around half of all employees felt that their organization offered technology training;
interestingly, the perception was more common among employees than employers. Only
38 percent of employers thought the facility offered technology training.

9. Lack of training. Inadequate training can leave employees frustrated and confused
about their job description. The CareerBuilder study concluded that nurses especially are
"more concerned with doing their job well in a good environment than with the amount
of money they make," suggesting training is essential to improving job performance and
thereby satisfaction. In-house skills training was one of the most commonly available
programs for workers, with 57 percent saying their facility offered such a program; crosstraining was more limited, with only 40 percent of employees believing they could take
advantage of training in other areas.
10. Not enough time with patients. Twenty percent of healthcare professionals felt
challenged by an inadequate amount of time spent with patients, according to the survey.
Based on another CareerBuilder poll, 57 percent of healthcare professionals said the
number of providers per patient had gotten worse in the last 12 months (compared to 32
percent who said it had stayed the same, and 11 percent who thought it had improved).
When nurses were asked the same question, 69 percent said the provider-patient ratio had
gotten worse, and only 4 percent thought it had improved. The lack of time with patients
may be exacerbated by an overload of administrative tasks or non-clinical assignments;
19 percent of workers felt challenged by too many administrative tasks, while 14 percent
were frustrated by a lack of interesting assignments.