HSA 4922 - Final Research Paper

Situational and Fiscal Analysis of Nurse Staffing Shortages at Mayo Clinic

The problem of nurse staffing shortages in healthcare organizations is not new

and continues to be a burning issue in the provision of quality care to patients and

performance of the organization. This is a dilemma that the Mayo Clinic, a

well-known healthcare facility, is experiencing especially in inpatient units, where

adequate nurse to patients ratio is critical towards safety and quality. The careful

situational analysis will aid the comprehension of the strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats (SWOT) around this issue as well as the financial impact of

the problem, when tackled or left unattended.

Strengths

Clinical governance system is one of the major strengths of Mayo Clinic in

solving the problem of nurse staffing shortage. Such areas are nurse managers,

staffing, and electronic health record (EHR) systems, which monitor such key

measures as medication errors, patient falls, and readmission rates. This data-scientific

method enables the Mayo Clinic leadership to make decisions regarding staffing level

and patient care goals, which are informed. Moreover, Mayo Clinic is

interdisciplinary, i.e., the nursing, human resources, and financial departments have to

work together to ensure a balance in the staffing plan against budget priorities. This

strength makes sure that the staffing decisions are taken based on the organizational

goals, quality outcomes, and cost management (Drennan et al., 2024).

Weaknesses

In spite of its positive aspects, Mayo Clinic has major weaknesses connected

with the nurse staffing. The concern is the lack of registered nurses which has

contributed to the overworking of nurses, burnouts of nurses, and the possibility of

neglecting patients. These issues deteriorate patient safety and quality of care, which

adds to the increased risks of delayed care and hospital readmission (Phillips,

Malliaris, and Bakerjian, 2021). Another significant issue is the turnover of nurses,

which also impacts continuity of care and stability of organizations. To overcome this

weakness, it is necessary to take specific steps in recruitment and retention, such as

flexible work hours, a professional growth program, and wellness programs to

increase job satisfaction and decrease burnout (Pradhan et al., 2024).

Opportunities

The present healthcare workforce landscape presents Mayo Clinic with a

number of opportunities that can be used to curb the issue of staffing shortages.

The concept of workforce stability is becoming a nationwide concern, as the

research on nurse retention and nurse-safe staffing approaches is evidenced. The

Mayo Clinic can use collaborations with nursing schools and increase

transition-to-practice programs, which would equip a new nurse with the skills

required in the inpatient environment. Moreover, the telehealth and virtual

nursing assistance may be included to reduce the workload of the employees who

have to work in-person to increase the efficiency and the satisfaction rates of the

employees. Planned investments in workforce in these fields can result in

improved care delivery and sustainability of Mayo Clinic over the long term

(Milesky et al., 2025).

Threats

Outside factors that may disrupt the staffing efforts of Mayo Clinic are the

heightened competition in the labor market, inflation, and higher price of benefits.

The temporary agency nurses can be used within the healthcare industry to

temporarily address staffing shortages but cause economic instability in the long-term

because of the high cost of labor. Although it has kept service capacity in the short

run, the agency staff will raise expenses and can result in a budget constraint (Pradhan

et al., 2024). Also, greater nursing shortages are a threat to the mission and patient

safety of the hospital and it becomes more difficult to maintain safe staffing at any

time. This economic pressure of such threats might further disrupt the operations of

Mayo Clinic, including the quality of care and budgeting (Milesky et al., 2025).

Fiscal Implications

The financial consequences of managing nurse staffing gaps are both in

short-term and long-term. In the short-run, Mayo Clinic would spend on hiring new

employees, retention bonuses and training initiatives. These costs may however result

in long term savings in terms of turnover, overtime and agency staffing. In addition,

dealing with nurse staffing shortage will avoid adverse events that will otherwise lead

to fines and bad publicity, which will further affect the financial performance of Mayo

Clinic. On the contrary, the inability to solve the problem might contribute to the

increased turnover rates, extended expenses related to contract labor, quality penalties,

and lower patient satisfaction (Pradhan et al., 2024). Without proactively addressing

this issue, the financial stability of the hospital is under threat.

Conclusion

To sum up, Mayo Clinic has a chance to overcome its weaknesses, such as high

turnover and workload-related burnout, by using its strengths, such as strong clinical

governance, and interdisciplinary collaboration. The hospital also needs to exploit the

outside opportunities such as collaborating with nursing schools and telehealth

application. When Mayo Clinic is able to effectively address financial and operational

risks caused by external threats, it will be in a better position to provide a sustainable

and quality delivery of healthcare. The economic advantages of nurse staffing

shortages are much greater than the costs of not doing anything about it and so the

issue of nurse staffing shortages is of high priority to the long-term success of the

organization.

References

Drennan, J., Murphy, A., McCarthy, V. J. C., Ball, J., Duffield, C., Crouch, R.,

Kelly, G., Loughnane, C., Murphy, A., Hegarty, J., Brady, N., Scott, A., &

Griffiths, P. (2024). The association between nurse staffing and quality of

care in emergency departments: A systematic review. International Journal

of Nursing Studies, 154, 104706.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2024.104706

Milesky, J., Rosen, M., Sharma, R., Zhang, A., & Bass, E. B. (2025). Acute care

nursing staff shortages that compromise patient-to-nurse ratios. Agency for

Healthcare Research and

Quality.https://doi.org/10.23970/AHRQEPC_MHS4NURSING

Phillips, J., Malliaris, A. P., & Bakerjian, D. (2021). Nursing and patient safety.

PSNet, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, U.S. Department of

Health and Human Services.

Pradhan, R., Beauvais, B., Ramamonjiarivelo, Z., Dolezel, D., Wood, D., &

Shanmugam, R. (2024). Agency staffing and hospital financial

performance: Insights and implications. Journal of Health Leadership, 16,

365–374. https://doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S470175