Healthcare leaders say generational differences about workplace flexibility, expectations of staying in the same job, burnout and transition to retirement are making it more difficult to retain doctors and nurses.
If it feels harder to keep the same doctor, you’re not imagining it. Healthcare leaders say retirements, burnout and changing workforce expectations are making it complicated to keep experienced clinicians in place.
A new study published in the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety suggests the reasons go beyond staffing shortages. Leaders from four major health systems in one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas say generational shifts are reshaping who enters healthcare, who stays and why clinicians leave.
“We’ve talked about clinical workforce shortages as a numbers problem involving training and retention,” said study co-author Dr. William Sage, founding director of the Texas A&M University Institute for Healthcare Access in Fort Worth. “What these leaders described was something more complicated, as healthcare organizations are struggling to meet growing patient needs while accommodating five distinct generations of clinicians with different needs and perspectives about work, well-being and career longevity.”…