4 Big Challenges Facing HR Professionals in the Healthcare Industry

By Darren Perucci August 16, 2017

The healthcare industry has always had to operate under a certain amount of pressure.

Since their work is critical to the health and well-being of so many, healthcare professionals deal
with incredible levels of stress you won’t find in other professions. And recent trends indicate
that the pressure is only going to increase.

So, what is the role of the human resources department?

From small rural clinics to big city hospitals, human resources in healthcare will also feel the
pressure. These professionals face issues like increased demand and staffing shortages, among
others. To overcome these hurdles, HR must better understand the how and why behind each
one. Read on to learn more about the four biggest challenges faced by HR professionals today,
and more importantly, what we can do about them.

Let’s start by discussing HR and healthcare jobs.

1. Staff Shortages
One of the current human resource issues in healthcare involves recruiting. Back in 2012, only
4.8 percent of hospitals experienced a shortage of nurses of 10 percent or greater. By 2016, that
number had jumped to 32.9 percent. And the numbers aren’t expected to go back down soon. By
2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that there will be a total of 1.2 million vacancies for
nursing positions.

There are a few factors contributing to this problem. First, as members of the baby boomer
generation continue to age, their massive numbers create a considerable workload for medical
professionals. It’s affecting the problem from the inside as well, as nurses from that generation
are beginning to retire and leave the workforce in droves.

Add to that the limited capacities of nursing programs, and there’s just not enough supply to
meet the growing demand. This shortage has stacked the deck in favor of the nurses, so
employers are now fighting to differentiate themselves and attract prospective employees.

The issue is only exacerbated by the shift toward a millennial workforce, whose priorities are
very different from their predecessors. Unlike baby boomers and Gen Xers who primarily sought
competitive compensation, millennials value benefits, and advancement opportunities far more
than their predecessors. This means that employers looking to hire the next batch of medical
professionals need to make changes now to appeal to their young prospects.

Some organizations are already doing this by offering training, development and advancement,
and competitive benefits packages, including tuition reimbursement. What’s more, savvy HR
representatives in the healthcare industry are reaching out to their marketing teams to help draw
attention to their job postings. Healthcare HR professionals have it hard, but we’re here to help.
Leveraging lead generation tactics and SEO tools, human resources in healthcare is working hard
to get the attention of qualified applicants and offer those candidates the type of benefits package
and work environment they want.

2. Turnover Rates
In addition to hiring shortages, hospitals and clinics are also struggling to retain the excellent
staff members they already have. With so many jobs open to medical professionals, it’s all too
easy for staff to leave if they’re unhappy or dissatisfied.

In the past six years, average registered nurse (RN) turnover rates have increased from 11.2
percent to 17.2 percent. In 2016, turnover for bedside RNs ranged anywhere from 8.8 percent to
a whopping 37 percent; so while some organizations are dealing with more reasonable numbers,
many others are battling much larger deficits. What’s more, the rising national average indicates
that it’s only getting worse over time.

These high turnover rates are costing hospitals millions. The cost of replacing a bedside nurse is
about as much as a nurse’s average yearly salary and then some. Currently, it costs the average
hospital between $5M-$8M each year to make up for turnover.

This is happening for multiple reasons. Like we mentioned above, millennials are looking for
more than just a paycheck as they enter the workforce. When they don’t receive what they want
from their job—be it more training, career advancement, or a great benefits program—they are
confident in leaving.

The biggest problem, though, may be supervisors. As Maureen Swick, CEO of the American
Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE) put it, “In my experience, people don’t leave their
organizations, they leave their managers. That is why nursing leadership is critically important
and has a significant impact on retention and recruiting. Effective nurse managers make sure
their staff feels supported and mentored.”

The work of HR in hospitals and clinics can help retain nurses by addressing the changing
demands of the workforce, making their organizations more attractive to current employees, and
ensuring supervisor-employee relationships are flourishing.

3. Employee Burnout
The issue of employee burnout is tangled up in the issues of staff shortages and turnover.

Burnout is caused in part by staffing shortages, and it has a compounding effect on employee
turnover. On top of that, burnout has a negative impact on both patient care and patient safety, as
emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion leaves providers (doctors and nurse practitioners
included) unable to perform their best.

Recent surveys have found that burnout rates for nurses are as high as 70 percent, while burnout
rates for doctors and nurse practitioners can reach as high as 50 percent. These statistics reflect
an epidemic, the ramifications of which include poorer patient health. There’s a significant
correlation between these burnout rates and increases in patient infection rates. Patients can see
the impact of burnout, too; they report lower satisfaction rates in facilities where burnout rates
are higher.

Those decreased satisfaction rates could be the result of emotional distance on the part of
clinicians. Burnout tends to create a disconnect between providers and patients, with providers
developing unfriendly, cynical, and less empathetic attitudes. This disconnect makes them less
sympathetic to the needs of patients and leaves everyone involved unhappy about the experience.

There are a few other factors that contribute to burnout as well. Among them is feeling
underappreciated, underutilized and as though they lack authority. Frequently, nurses feel as
though they could do more, but aren’t being allowed to. Workload also has a lot to do with
burnout rates. Nurse-to-patient ratios range anywhere from 1:4 at best to 1:8 at worst, and those
nurses with higher patient loads have double the chance of burnout and an increased risk of
patient mortality.

It’s a complicated problem with some dire consequences.

HR professionals need to be aware of the effects an overworked and under-supported staff can
have on patient care. There is currently a nationwide push for safe staffing legislation, which
would mandate hospitals to keep the nurse-to-patient ratios within safer limits.

But in the meantime, HR in healthcare can alleviate some of the burnout with reward and
recognition strategies as well as training programs to increase job satisfaction among employees.

4. Training and Development

As mentioned previously, employees in the medical field today are looking to learn new skills
and gain access to advancement opportunities. And providing this kind of employee engagement
is a critical job of HR in the healthcare industry.

Many in the nursing profession intend to further their careers by becoming nurse practitioners,
doctors, or nursing managers, and more and more often they expect help along that journey from
their employers.

Providing the career development employees desire can be costly, but the costs of hiring and
training replacements are far higher. Training employees is an investment, and it pays dividends
on the other end, both in retained employees and in their increased capability.

Another aspect of properly training employees. With electronic, Internet-ready devices quickly
saturating our lives, hospitals and clinics have started to shift toward digital systems for tracking
patient charts, managing workflows, educating and entertaining patients, and keeping
professionals in touch with those they look after.

While this is all good news, the challenge is that each system comes with a learning curve, and it
requires training to be able to use them, let alone see a return on investment. Systems like these
require a significant amount of support from management to motivate adoption among the
employees that will actually be using it.
HR Professionals need to be aware that systems like these are becoming increasingly prolific in
the industry. It’s also important to note that functional roles of the human resource department in
healthcare may include the implementation of new training within their own organization.

Conclusion
The medical field is a difficult and stressful one, and as the professionals who manage and look
out for doctors and nurses, HR in healthcare needs to be partners with practitioners in improving
employee engagement, job satisfaction, and in turn, the quality of care their health centers
provide to patients.

With the right tools, they can help employees become more effective—and more satisfied—in
their work. The medical field is changing. HR healthcare needs to change with it.