Running head: WORKFORCE SHORTAGE IN HEALTHCARE
Workforce Shortage in Healthcare
Jessica Smales
South University Online
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Workforce Shortage in Healthcare
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Workforce Shortage in Healthcare
Introduction:
The problem of workforce shortage has featured widely in the mainstream media as well
as in medical discussions in recent times. The increased sense of concern by experts, members of
the public and government authorities, has also given the issue a great deal of airtime. That
makes workforce shortage in the healthcare facility an essential concern for the entire system and
extends further to the external society. It is, therefore, the responsibility of medical professionals,
investors, and other stakeholders to seek prompt solutions to the shortage and restore that
operational integrity of medical facilities to the benefit of patients, medical staff and the
government as a whole (Anderson, 2014). The primary focus of this paper is to dissect the
various issues surrounding the shortage of medical workforce and propose sustainable and
feasible solutions to the problem.
Description of the Healthcare Workforce Shortage and its Implications:
A rigorous analysis of the dynamics of the workforce shortage in medical facilities is the
first step in dealing with the problem before delving into the intricacies of developing
appropriate solutions. In this discussion, the Madison County Hospital is the chosen medical
facility to develop solutions to the short and long-term medical staff shortages in medium-sized
hospitals (Demo et al., 2015). The environmental conditions within the medical departments of
medium medical facilities require well-laid plans to engage the responsible parties and
operational frameworks in a bid to establish sustainable operational systems that include a
vibrant, durable and reliable workforce (Hoyler et al., 2014). The distributions of this problem
description would consist of significant stages including separation of short-term and long-term
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aspects, development of a clear rationale on the need for attention on these issues and an explicit
outline of the financial implications in attaining the eventual implementation.
The Aspects that Need Immediate Attention and Aspects that Need Long-term Attention:
The aspects that require immediate attention in the medium-level medical facility include
the small slots of residency, demotivation of health care providers from the medical services and
irregular distribution of medical training facilities. On the long-term basis, issues such as
efficiency in health care delivery, quality of medical training and structured replacement of
healthcare staff members feature prominently (Anderson, 2014). The short and long-term aspects
of concern require equal dedication and commitment to handling. It is, however, worth noting
that the processing of long-standing features of the medical workforce shortage would diffuse
over time and implementing solutions would come in at intermittent stages.
The short-term concerns need immediate solutions and the dynamics involved would
allow for current solutions without the need to protract the solution implementations. Issues
such as inadequacy in residency slots are matters to deal with a measured amount of expedition.
The shortage of residency vacancies deters the smooth transition of medical personnel from
training levels to operational responsibilities in medical facilities (Demo et al., 2015). The
students would find it hard to acquire the needed expertise before entering healthcare practice
and help in mitigating the looming medical staff shortages. The protracted training periods
orchestrated by limited slots of residency in medium-level medical facilities also lead to
instances of attrition among medical students. That eventually reduced the admission populations
to health care facilities hence the shortage of medical personnel.
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The irregular distribution of medical training facilities and institutions also falls under the
short-term concerns in dealing with workforce shortage in medium-level healthcare institutions.
The undertaking can take a short-term approach as training falls under the category of top
priorities in ensuring a vibrant and self-sustaining health care system by improving the
workforce asset base in individual medical facilities. The issue needs immediate attention to set
the stage for the smooth production of a sufficient number of medical staff to fill the enlarging
workforce gap and elevate the quality and standards of healthcare provision to the general
society (Haley et al., 2017). Though some attributes of the distribution of training centers can
still roll over a long-time span, it is necessary for the solution implementation team to carry out a
more significant chunk of the rectifications immediately (Anderson, 2014). The fact that medical
centers run on the wheels of medical personnel prompts a quick response to prevent a scenario
where health care facilities fall into a sudden shortage that brings operations to a near standstill.
On the long-term basis, quality of medical training and structured replacement of
healthcare staff need addressing. The quality of medical instruction is an aspect that requires the
input of a wide range of experts and professionals in the medical sector. The structures of health
care need the intervention of appropriate curricula that run relevant to the technical requirements
in the medical careers of the personnel (Demo et al., 2015). The engagements that produce
practical academic training guidelines would take time, and that implies a long-term
consideration of quality in the medical training process. The longtime argument on this concept
has always centered on the immediate requirement of excellence in training medical students, but
on keen analysis, attaining quality is a long-term concept that needs a long stretch of
improvements and internal developments to achieve.
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Structured medical staff replacements is also an aspect of the problem that needs a longterm address mechanism to set the stage for a smooth transition of personnel. The response to
retiring medical staff is, for instance, a matter that needs careful structures and policy outlay to
ensure a sustainable workforce in medical institutions (Anderson, 2014). Delving into medical
staff turnover in the same fashion and expedition as other short-term concerns would prove
challenging as the policy and reputation mechanisms require adequate preparation and
implementation timelines. The implementation of a program to ensure smooth and seamless
replacement of existing workers in the healthcare arena would also need extensive consultations
and extensive expert engagements to consider all necessary factors (Hoyler et al., 2014). This
movement intends to arrive at a workable plan to fit gaps that emerge when medical staff
members exit the healthcare facilities due to various reasons. The structures would also need to
take long-term needs assessment as well as give an outline of the proper courses of action in each
type of medical staff exit.
Rationale of the Aspects in Need of Attention:
The aspects outlined in the short and long-term basis include distribution of medical
training facilities, structured staff replacement, adequacy of residency slots and quality of
medical training. The rationale behind the attention needed on these factors would differ
depending on the specifics of each attribute to the problem of workforce deficiency in medical
facilities (Haley et al., 2017). The rationale involves the development of a training system that
offers convenience and accessibility to the medical students starting with the distribution of
medical training institutions. An accessible training plan would also be significant to the
healthcare service providers who would benefit from convenient access to a vast population of
trainees to sustain the personnel numbers.
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Structured medical staff replacement mechanisms are also necessary, and the rationale
behind the attention on the structures is that the medical service providers need to sustain their
personnel (Humphreys et al., 2017). A structured approach to replacing the departed members of
the medical staff team would play a significant role in smoothening operations within the
healthcare facilities for the benefit of patients and investors (Demo et al., 2015). It is important to
note that profit margins for the privately-owned institutions are essential considerations, hence
the rationale behind attention on structuring and streamlining medical staff to maintain
consistency of medical operations within the healthcare facilities.
Adequacy of residency slots is also an attribute that comes with the significant rationale
for the consideration because of the impact that it has on the staff production levels. Through
analysis and careful consideration of modalities to fix the small slots in the residency of student
trainees, the medical workforce would witness a tremendous improvement in numbers and help
the institutions to operate more efficiently (Anderson, 2014). The aspect of quality in medical
training has a similar attention rationale as the adequacy of slots in trainee residence programs.
The similarities lie in the importance of both attributes to the overall performance of human
resource departments in the medical facilities. The quality if training in medical training
institutions has a significant impact on the future workforce as it affects the production of skilled
personnel to offer adequate healthcare facilities.
A Description of the Financial Implications of the Issues:
The plan to restructure both the internal and external operation factors in healthcare
facilities would come at a significant cost implication for the medium-level medical facilities.
The implementation of the various changes such as improvement in the medical trainee
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instructional quality would need additional financial input from stakeholders (Haley et al., 2017).
The injected funds would go a long way into developing the advanced training facilities as well
as cater for training equipment and training staff. Depending on the size of the specific
healthcare institutions, the financial implications would run into millions of dollars, and that cost
would be the responsibility of the investors, government authorities, and well-wishers through
donations and grants.
For the Madison County Hospital, for instance, the financial outlay in ensuring
achievement of desired advancements in workforce sustainability would hit the environs of
twenty million dollars (Hay et al., 2017). The implementation cost would divide across the four
aspects that need consideration in a manner that each docket receives an allocation that
corresponds with the relative financial need. The development of a restructured medical
personnel-training program would take approximately 35% of the total allocation while the
distribution of medical training institution would make about 30% (Demo et al., 2015). The
quality of medical training would consume around 20% while the creation of sufficient slots in
the resident department of medical training institutions would take the remaining 15%. The
financial allocations may be higher or lower than the stipulated percentages depending on the
deliberations reached in the consultative engagement before the final implementations.
Evaluation of Alternatives and the Associated Risks:
The alternative options in solving the workforce inadequacy include concentrating on
addressing the shortages caused by attrition and non-compliance with the stipulated best
practices in medical work. Taking the direction of centering on the single exit component would
help in retaining medical students in medical training institutions from the beginning to
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completion of their training (Anderson, 2014). The move would be anticipatory and preventative
of any future shortages due to low numbers of graduating medical students. The aspect of
dismissed members of staff in health facilities would also need a preventative approach in
ensuring total compliance through prior discipline training produces compliant personnel
(Shamian et al., 2016). The risk associated with solving the workforce inadequacy problem using
attrition reduction strategies is that there would be a high tendency to neglect other aspects that
cause a reduced staff population in the medical arena. Another risk is that there would be high
chances of investing substantial financial resources in a single docket while the other
components remain suffocated and insufficiently monitored.
Recommendations to Solve these Problems:
The proposals to solve the workforce issue in the Madison County Hospital and other
similar level medical institutions include establishing a task force that would look into the
problem and implement necessary changes. The changes involve addressing the short and longterm challenges and setting stringent policies and structures to improve the various areas of
concern (Demo et al., 2015). Promoting the workforce would entail creating a robust staff
replacement system that anticipates exits and makes appropriate steps to make immediate
replacements. The human resource departments in medical facilities should also establish enough
slots in residency departments by delegating some operations to trainee staff members (Hay et
al., 2017). On the long-term, the managerial teams of medical institutions should focus on the
quality of training by performing a rigorous assessment to ensure that medical personnel have
enough practice to keep them in the profession without the risk of dismissal for low quality.
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An explanation of the Methods to Measure the Success of the Plan:
The accomplishment of the plan would result measured through crucial performance
indices such as the patient population and medical response rate. The service time at the medical
facility should also be a valid measure of success in solving the workforce shortage (Demo et al.,
2015). Decreased patient service time would imply success of the plan in improving the
operational attributes in the health sector. The efficiency levels of medical staff would also point
in the direction of a successful revolutionary program to enhance the scope of medical personnel
in the health facilities. The reduction in employee turnover rates in the medical services would
also make an excellent method to evaluate the success of the plan.
A Description of the Next Steps, if the Plan Failed:
The next steps if the plan fails would encompass reverting to making improvements in
the routine managerial practice to retain medical staff and encourage more medical trainees to
persist in the practice (Anderson, 2014). Increases in the human resource remuneration packages
would be effective ways to operate the facility in the absence of success prospects for the plan. It
would entail an effort to make necessary rectifications to the existing systems and policies in a
manner that the workforce population increases.
Conclusion:
The problem of workforce shortage has become, indeed, one of the most significant
concerns in the modern society. The medical profession struggles to keep the sufficient levels of
personnel in a bid to sustain operational consistency and patient satisfaction. The challenges
lingering in the medical arena have had an extended period of multi-faced interventions with
little success. The plan that encompasses short and long-term aspects of the workforce deficiency
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problem proves useful in setting the stage for a sustainable working environment as well as
training for the entry-level medical personnel. A focus on the retirement and employment terms
of medical staff is also among the critical considerations outlined in the strategy to establish an
environment that promotes sustainability and high persistence rates in the medical profession.
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