Leadership survey: Operational demands overwhelming hospitals

Editor's Note

Nearly half of hospital executives report that their hospitals are not fully prepared to cope with patient volumes, Becker’s Hospital Review reported June 13.

Citing the June 12 Hospital Operations Outlook Survey from FTI Consulting, Becker’s reports that nursing and mental and behavior health specialists represent the greatest recruitment gaps. Factors cited as contributing to turnover include salary, scheduling, and stress. Other highlights include:

• Only 29% of respondents expressed concern over the cost of building on existing retention practices, “indicating this is widely considered to be an important and worthwhile investment,” Becker’s reports.
• 69% of executives said they found retention bonuses as an effective tool to retain talent.
• Retention strategies include listening sessions with staff and investments in workplace culture
• More than half of hospitals report increasing their agency utilization rates. However, “executives are addressing full-time employees’ job satisfaction to avoid overreliance on high cost, temporary staffing.”
• Less than one third of respondents had made operational changes related to workforce issues. However, almost half of those who plan such changes are already in the process of making them.

"Long gone are the days of taking broad approaches to nuanced challenges,” Alexandra Priola, a managing director at FTI Consulting, said in a June 12 news release. “The winners will be the ones that prioritize customization — in messaging, programming and experiences — that speaks to the specific needs of their audiences, and in the process, channels resources into areas that enable engagement, growth and commitment."