Sounds reasonable, until you look at the Silicon Valley experience. Silicon Valley grew like a weed precisely because employees could…
Readers Write: The Clinical Dilemma at the Tipping Point – How We All Can Drive Transformation in Healthcare
The Clinical Dilemma at the Tipping Point – How We All Can Drive Transformation in Healthcare
By Ted Ottenheimer
Ted Ottenheimer is VP of clinical data transformation for Ascom Americas of Morrisville, NC.
I have read countless articles regarding the shortage of staff in healthcare. I have experienced it myself in the pre-hospital EMS (emergency medical services) setting. So much of what I read provides a great depiction of the situation in which we find ourselves, yet few of them offer solutions. If you’re a nurse, administrator, leader, institution, or anyone interested in the healthcare field, I’m sharing my perspective here on how to be part of the change.
When I first left the military, I was looking for a nursing school to expand my career. The one I had intended to apply to, hosted right in the hospital, was closing its final year of the program. I was left to search for a college that I could attend in a traditional manner. As a single father, this posed a challenge, as I had to continue to maintain gainful employment.Hence, I entered the workforce.
From time to time, I would look for that nursing opportunity. I finally found it two years ago in a program that runs on evenings and weekends with manageable clinical time during the standard work week. I wish I was 20 years younger, but I believe you are never too old to pursue your dreams.
Now is the time to invest in the programs necessary to continue turning out the critical staffing that the ever-changing healthcare industry is demanding – nursing aides, LPNs, RNs, RTs, and so on. What if these programs have more to offer for non-traditional students? What if programs are brought back into the health system? Partnerships between hospitals and higher learning can be successful, although I understand the prestige associated with being able to attend these opportunities for higher learning is a fierce battle of minds in which only the highest aptitude may attend. However, capacity continues to be an issue to provide the necessary staffing, and we need to think creatively to solve today’s challenges.
To make a change requires a significant amount of effort and the ability to think outside the box. Let’s look at an example of a way that we made a change. The minimum provider level to staff an ambulance is an emergency medical technician – basic. There is an aide position that requires less training called an emergency medical responder. After years of work by some determined individuals, they were able to incorporate this into the local high school curriculum. The intention is to engage the students in assisting our local community. This is similar to having a CNA (certified nurse’s aide) program in high school or vocational / technical school. Both examples are great options to engage at an early age with hopes of pursuing a career in the healthcare field. It amazes me how many doctors and nurses I have spoken with whom have been trained in EMS, which drove them to continue in healthcare.
We see that there are policies in place for continuing education in nearly all of the health systems. Are you seeking out the employees with potential? I suspect with the current burnout rate it is difficult to think of continuing education. However, helping build one’s career is always rewarding in both directions. I will always remember those leaders who have taken the time for me and encouraged me to work towards improvement.
My last point is adopting technology. Clinical staff are caring for more patients than ever before. As the workload increases, the cognitive load grows as well. This situation will not diminish any time soon. Technology can assist in capturing routine clerical entries, alerting clinicians to actionable patient events, provide collaboration tools, and clinical decision support that can reduce the burden on staff. It will reduce the negative outcomes we all worry about and want to avoid. Engage the clinicians early in the process and watch them become the champions for you. Take some time to see what is most important to them by reading our recent report, “Nursing Satisfaction: What Matters Most At Work.”
These are some simple concepts that can be the change that is so desperately needed in healthcare today.
Re: your point about technology:
Remember that time that anyone cared about how anyone OTHER than a Provider used healthcare tech?
Yeah….me neither.
Ted This was a thoughtful and sincere presentation of the challenges facing our healthcare system and finding the supply of caregivers we will need to provide adequate care for those who need it. Access to the education is a critical piece and making it more available to non traditional students is important. Providing subsidized education opportunities with a commitment to serve those who subsidized the education for a period of time seems like a good place to start. Lets start promoting educational opportunities to align with the employment opportunities. Let’s assume we can attract people into the profession in the numbers that we need, the next big challenge is figuring out how we create an environment where these folks will want to stay and not be burned out by the challenges created by our broken healthcare delivery system today. We are going to be forced to really redesign health care delivery to place the right acuity care in the right places, with the emphasis on promoting wellness for people willing and able to invest in their own health. Digital transformation holds a lot of promise for this to happen, but we have to commit to accepting that change is inevitable.