This article discusses major human resource challenges in the healthcare industry. While human capital management and growth and staffing needs are priorities in most organizations, HR in healthcare institutions must also consider patient outcomes. The challenges highlighted in this article include recruitment in healthcare, wage competition, turnover and retention, training and development, and burnout. Talent shortage, patient care, safety, and non-medical professionals’ hiring are key issues related to recruitment in the industry. The increased demand for talent in the industry leads to wage rise, and HR uses other strategies such as work-life balance to attract individuals with desired skills. HR has to mitigate the high staff turnover and burnout and ensure that healthcare professionals have the necessary knowledge and competencies to guarantee quality care and patient safety. The healthcare industry will in the future be impacted by other HR issues such as safety, privacy, and digitization. HR professionals need to have appropriate mechanisms for minimizing physical hazards and workplace stresses to guarantee safety for both staff and patients. Equally, they will be regularly training workers to ensure they are updated with technologies and mitigate risks for privacy violations associated with the digitization of operations.
This article illustrates current applications relate to healthcare management since it highlights various challenges that influence administration processes. The shortage of healthcare professionals has significant adverse impacts on the quality and quantity of services delivered. HR managers and other management teams have to factor this issue into their decision-making to ensure that they have adequate staff with appropriate knowledge and competencies. For instance, HR can design various motivation programs in their institutions to not only attract the best talents but also retain skilled workers and minimize the turnover rate. Equally, they can implement work-shift schedules and training and development programs to prevent burnout and enhance staff skills. As a result, quality services and improved patient safety and outcomes will be guaranteed.
The article has addressed real and practical issues that the health care sector is facing today. Additionally, the HR department in healthcare institutions has a core mandate to mitigate the problems, while at the same time guaranteeing patients’ wellbeing. For example, HR managers implement policies that ensure work-life balance for their staff and offer flexible work schedules to attract the best talents when they cannot offer competitive salaries.
Various factors such as authorship, the experience of the author, and the use of data make the information presented in this article valid and reliable. The author of this article is a human resource professional. He has worked in HR for more than 15 years in different disciplines. Therefore, he knows HR’s roles and responsibilities and the challenges they encounter when executing their duties to accomplish organizational goals. Conversely, the author used data from different sources to support the content of this article. For example, he indicates that the hospital turnover rate was 19.1% to support the idea of workers willingly or unwillingly leaving their employment as an issue encountered by HR professionals. He also used data from governmental agencies such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and reputable organizations like NORCAL Mutual Insurance Company to support safety and privacy as HR’s future challenges. The author indicates that 20 % of workplace injuries and 50 % of staff assaults are reported in the healthcare sector. Equally, approximately 71% of healthcare cybersecurity cases are committed by nurses and doctors among other staff.
The article does not contain any conflicting views about HR challenges that influence the healthcare industry. As an experienced HR professional, the author knows what hospitals’ human resource managers encounter while executing their duties to ensure that their organizations achieve their ultimate goals, provision of safe and quality care. Moreover, he seems to have borrowed the ideas from the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration (ASHHRA). The agency outlines the roles of HR professionals in healthcare institutions as well as issues related to their work. The information is specifically for the HR professionals in the healthcare sector even though it is applicable to other disciplines.
The provided information can be used to plan and implement strategies for ensuring that a health institution has an adequate workforce with appropriate skills to guarantee enhanced patient safety and outcomes. For example, HR professionals can design work schedules that ensure that doctors and nurses do not work for long hours to prevent burnout and work-related stress. Equally, they can implement training and development programs for all healthcare workers to enhance their knowledge and skills. Consequently, the staffs become more satisfied and engaged, minimizing turnover and improving patient safety and outcomes.
I concur with the author because the challenges he outlines have a significant influence on operations in the healthcare sector. Notably, the delivery of quality services in hospitals depends mainly on employees and not equipment. An institution may have bought and installed quality machines and technologies but they are useless without skilled professionals to use them. The shortage of skilled healthcare workers due to the high turnover rate has been an issue in the industry that can be addressed by HR professionals.
Reference
O’Donnell, R. (2019). The HR challenges shaping the healthcare industry | Workest. Web.