New Zealand is experiencing the same issues as the US - an acute nurse shortage and physician shortages in specific geographic areas and specialties, Shortages will grow more acute in the future because our current education system is broken, and current workforce practices are inefficient and lead to burnout - even if all of the nurses returned to patient care there would still be a shortage.
A new workforce model must be implemented that is based on better collaboration of colleges and hospitals, greater flexibility between roles and in the work environment, and the leveraging of technology to increase efficiency in education and clinical processes.
Major Findings
While the U.S. has more physicians and nurses today than ever before, they are not distributed or deployed efficiently. Shortage projections tend to be built around today’s often dysfunctional system, which makes them problematic. However, while future shortages are certainly worrisome, the bigger issue for health industry leaders today lies in orchestrating care in an increasingly complex and converging healthcare labor market.
Employers are faced with the challenge of attracting and retaining qualified clinicians. Accordingly, employers must develop new, more effective plans that reflect pay-for-performance models, incorporate flexible work arrangements, and account for the trend of nurses moving away from the hospital setting and physicians moving toward it.
Given the medical and nursing workforce shortages, health providers and managers must maximize clinical performance and resource utilization. This is becoming increasingly important, as patient satisfaction and quality clinical outcomes carry greater weight in reimbursement. A surge in medical schools has erupted in response to the projected physician shortage in targeted geographic locations and certain specialties, creating a need for consulting services around accreditation, strategic planning, financial modeling, and academic programs implementation. Many nurses and physicians are among the baby boomers who will start to retire in the next three to five years. The federal government is predicting that by 2020, nurse and physician retirements will contribute to a shortage of approximately 24,000 doctors and nearly 1 million nurses. While hospital leaders voice much of the concern over possible shortages, the implications extend throughout the labor-intensive, trillion-dollar United States health system.
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute (HRI) studied this evolving issue with the intent of providing a 360 degree view of current workforce challenges and supplying a roadmap for a new, more sustainable workforce model. To bring you the most current analysis—and recommendations—regarding these issues, HRI presents, What works: Healing the healthcare staffing shortage.
Many health providers in New Zealand as are challenged with staffing shortages and the resulting cost and quality repercussions. Use this latest research from PricewaterhouseCoopers to plan—not react—to these challenges. Please feel free to direct your colleagues to this site, and feel free to contact one of our advisors for more information.
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