Healthcare and the New Normal
By Jim Murphy, Organizational Development Consultant
It’s the New Normal – though some of it seems like old news. Employees are more likely to quit. One recent survey claimed that 95 percent of them are thinking of that, with burnout as the main reason. Of course it’s not news that if employees are not treated well they may leave, but the degree to which this is presently true has led to this being called the Great Resignation.
But however much people may want to and do quit all of them can’t or won’t do so. The result can be “quiet quitting”: not working as hard. Some have attributed a Chinese origin to this actually longstanding and normal reaction to overwork that has been accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Going to work” may never be the same. Remote work first became a necessity and now many are seeing it as an option of choice. In healthcare this has shown itself in the growth of telemedicine.
What is the new normal for healthcare? In October 2021 Morning Consult reported that “18% of health care workers have quit their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, while another 12% have been laid off.” Of those still at work, 31 percent were thinking of quitting. The next month Hospital IQ claimed that 90 percent of all nurses contemplating leaving in the next twelve months, with “71 percent of RNs that have over 15 years’ experience thinking about leaving as soon as possible or within the next few months.” This May Forbes said that in 2022 “nearly 1.7 million people have quit their healthcare jobs – equivalent to almost 3% of the healthcare workforce each month.”
Like the pandemic, this is a worldwide ailment: In August of this year a survey indicated that half of Ontario registered practical nurses were inclined to leave their profession for good. In Australia the Green Party called for a $10,000 ($6900 US) bonus for all nurses to stop the tide of resignations.
What are American healthcare organizations doing about all this?
Some are trying to use money: One hospital just offered nurses a $30,000 signing bonus! But what message does that send to those still on the job? And does a bidding war seem like a good solution to the problem?
Use of travel nurses has greatly increased since the pandemic. But that is another “solution” that can do more harm than good, exacerbating morale and causing more division.
One does not have to know a lot about systems thinking to realize that symptomatic solutions don’t work. But what would? The bad news is that short term remedies are not the answer, but the good news is that long term solutions pay lasting benefits.
What if health care leaders asked their employees what should be done? That may sound too radical, but if morale is the problem why not ask the people who are suffering from it? After all, doctors question patients before making a diagnosis! “A good leader is a great listener.”
There are many things that far-sighted healthcare organizations can do. They have to understand the importance of organizational development. They can use creative tools such as experiential activities for team development and/or medical improv.
And what if healthcare organizations made a commitment to the employees’ health? What if they considered solving employee burnout to provide lessons useful in the treatment of their patients? Maybe they could advertise the health of their employees as a reason why people should entrust their care to them.
As it is, which would seem more likely to announce a gym for its employees – a hospital or tech startup? Alas, in a money-driven healthcare system, creative and lasting solutions may be hard to forecast.
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