Running Head: DYNAMIC HEALTH CARE
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9-2 Short Paper: Health Care Staffing Shortages
HRM 630
SNHU
DYNAMIC HEALTH CARE
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In the dynamic health care setting, staff shortage is a serious problem that could impact
the performance and productivity of the entire sector. In the article titled ‘What Works:
Healing the Healthcare Staffing Shortage,’ it has been identified the shortage of staff in the
health care domain has the potential to alter market settings and give rise to complexities for
health care executives. It has even been projected that in the coming three to five years a large
number of physicians as well as nursing professionals would start to retire. Such a projection is
a serious matter of concern because it can further escalate the staff shortage problem in the
health care landscape. The federal government had further made the projection that by 2020,
around 24,000 doctors and 1 million nurses would retire. Such projections indicate that there is
an urgent need to establish a well-designed workforce plan in the health care domain. Such a
plan can play an instrumental role to effectively deal with the staff shortage problem.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified health workers as the backbone
of the entire health care system. They are the ones that ensure that the health needs of the
general public are met, and they are able to lead a quality life (Health Workers: A global profile
- world health organization, 2006). The shortage of staff problem could lead to an imbalance in
the health care setting, and it could also compromise the quality-of-care solutions that are
delivered to the vulnerable individuals and groups in the society. In the prevailing health care
setting, it is imperative to find a long-term solution to address the workforce shortage problem.
For instance, some of the major staff-related issues that exist need to be identified and rectified.
It has been revealed in the findings of the article that at present, the process for educating and
retaining new nursing professionals is ineffective and broken. Similarly, the hospital leaders
have always been in a denial when it comes to acknowledging the dissatisfaction among
nursing practitioners. Additionally, executives and leaders operating in the health care
landscape give high priority to the issues relating to payments and regulatory aspects and the
workforce shortage issues are not govern much thought. For addressing the workforce issues
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these areas need to be mended. Otherwise, in the future, the lack of adequate number of nurses
as well as doctors could cripple the entire health care system and adversely affect the quality of
health of individuals in the society. The article has covered a very serious topic that has the
potential to have an impact on everyone who relies on health care services. It is vital to devise
suitable strategic interventions so that the staff shortage problem can be addressed. For
instance, technology-oriented training could be offered to the clinical and medical
professionals so that they could focus on the quality-of-care solutions that are delivered to
patients. Similarly, there is an opportunity to develop public-private partnerships so that
diverse parties can function in a collective manner for promoting nursing and physician
programs (Health Industries. PwC, 2021, p. 5).
The staff shortage problem in the health care domain could have an adverse impact on
the triangle of health care that involves access, cost, and quality. The reduction in the number
of health care workers could diminish the ability of vulnerable individuals and patients to
access them as per their health needs. It could further hamper the quality of their health and
lead to negative health outcomes. Similarly, the reduction in the health staff could increase the
costs that patients pay to avail health care services from physicians and doctors. It could not
only increase the financial burden for individuals who are in urgent need for care solutions, but
it could also increase their health-related vulnerability. The rise in cost relating to health care
services and solutions could further increase its inaccessibility for people belonging to low-
income groups. In terms of quality of care, the shortage of health care staff would also act as a
major source of issue. The reduced staff members may feel burdened to meet the rising health
needs of the public. It could negatively affect their ability to deliver quality health care
solutions. Thus, it could negatively affect the quality of health outcome of vulnerable
individuals. Hence the shortage of health care workforce is a serious issue that could intensify
in the future and lead to inefficiency, imbalance, and poor performance of the entire health care
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system. Since health care is one of the fundamental needs for an individual, the staff-related
issue in the health care domain could spill over and it could affect other industries, sectors, and
areas. It is critical to find long-term solutions to resolve the health care staffing problem so that
the entire health care system can continue to operate efficiently.
References
Health Workers: A global profile - world health organization. (2006). Retrieved March 1,
2022, from https://www.who.int/whr/2006/06_chap1_en.pdf
Health Industries. PwC. (2021). Retrieved March 1, 2022, from
https://www.pwc.com/healthindustries
