Literature Review

The best staff retention strategies: Poll Becker's Hospital Review; by Mariah Taylor; 6/24/24 Increased schedule flexibility remains one of the most effective strategies for staff retention, a recent Becker's poll found. The poll, posted on LinkedIn in mid-June, asked participants to vote on which of three options would have the greatest effect on staff retention at their organization. Becker's has no insights into respondents' organizations or roles. Of 832 votes received, 62% of respondents said increased schedule flexibility, 29% said hiring more staff, 4% said wellness initiatives and 6% said other. 

Proven tips for recruiting top talentTCN Talks; by Tina Houser; 6/26/24 We train for many events in life, like spelling bees and marathons. We also need to train the person interviewing candidates. Our interviewers are critical in selecting the right candidates who contribute to the company’s success and overall culture. Interviewers need training and essential resources to conduct effective and fair interviews in order to choose the best overall talent. ... There are five key elements to training interviewers. They range from simple to more complex but they are all equally important.

From nurse to CEO: 2 executives reflect on their paths to the top Becker's Hospital Review - Leadership & Management; by Erica Carbajal; 6/25/24 Throughout their careers, Laureen Driscoll, MSN, RN, and Kathy Tussey, DNP, RN, remained open to change and said yes more often than no, even to opportunities about which they were skeptical or knew would be a challenge. Today, Ms. Driscoll is chief executive of Providence's South Division, which spans 17 hospitals in Northern and Southern California, and Dr. Tussey is CEO of Harrison Memorial Hospital in Cynthiana, Ky. Neither envisioned pursuing a path to the top role when they began their healthcare careers as bedside nurses. ... Hospital and health system CEOs with a background in nursing appear to be few and far between, though the true proportion of nurse CEOs in healthcare is unclear due to a lack of data. Becker's recently caught up with Ms. Driscoll and Dr. Tussey to learn more about their career trajectories and their top pieces of advice for other nurses eyeing a path to the helm. 

From C-suite to scrubs, CEO takes a walk in employees' shoes Becker's Hospital Review - Leadership & Management; by Madeline Ashley; 6/20/24 Todd Forkel, CEO of Altru Health System in Grand Forks, N.D., quite literally knows what it's like to walk in his colleagues shoes, and it's all because of a program called "Shadow Me, Todd." Mr. Forkel has been CEO of Altru for more than two years, but has been in healthcare for 32 years with 13 years of CEO experience. A nonprofit health system, Altru comprises around 3,400 employees, including more than 300 providers across 65 care specialties. ... In the program, Mr. Forkel will shadow a different colleague two to four times a month, typically in the morning or afternoon. 

University Hospitals to cut more than 300 positions Modern Healthcare; by Paige Bennett; 6/19/24 University Hospitals is eliminating more than 300 positions amid challenges in the healthcare industry. The health system announced Wednesday, June 19, that it was reducing its leadership structure by more than 10% as part of an organizational reset. The move comes at a time when healthcare systems across the U.S. are grappling with rising costs and labor shortages. UH Chief Operating Officer Dr. Paul Hinchey said in a phone interview with Crain’s that the cuts focused on leadership and support services, not frontline workers. Affected employees began being notified by the health system on Monday, he said. The health system said the vast majority of the cuts were non-clinical and will not impact patient care. The move “complements a plan over the past three years to increase efficiency, consolidate service lines and close hospitals in Bedford and Richmond Heights,” according to UH. 

'I don't ever trust Epic to be correct': Nurses raise more AI concerns Becker's Health IT; by Giles Bruce; 6/14/24 Nurses continue to voice concerns about artificial intelligence and its integration into EHRs, saying the technology is ineffective and interferes with patient care. Nurses from health systems around the country spoke to National Nurses United, their largest labor union, for a June 5 story about issues with such programs as automated nurse handoffs, patient classification systems and sepsis alerts. Multiple nurses cited problems with EHR-based programs from Epic and Oracle Health that use algorithms to determine patient acuity and nurse staffing levels. "I don't ever trust Epic to be correct," Craig Cedotal, RN, a pediatric oncology nurse at Kaiser Permanente Oakland (Calif.) Medical Center, told the nurses' union. "It's never a reflection of what we need, but more a snapshot of what we've done." ... Hundreds of nurses protested AI at Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Medical Center in April.

Should all healthcare workers take the Hippocratic Oath? Becker's Hospital Review; Madeline Ashley; 5/29/24 As private equity expands across the healthcare industry and proper patient care is brought into question, Don Berwick, MD, a Harvard Medical School health policy lecturer in Boston and former CMS administrator during the Obama administration, called for an extended Hippocratic Oath for all who work in healthcare. During an April 3 senate hearing in Boston, titled, "When Health Care Becomes Wealth Care: How Corporate Greed Puts Patient Care and Health Workers at Risk," Dr. Berwick spoke passionately about how patient needs have been put on the backburner, but should be the No. 1 priority in healthcare.

Would an 'unbossed' culture work in healthcare? Becker's Hospital Review; by Madeline Ashley; 5/24/24 The workforce has seen an influx of changes and trends come and go in a post-pandemic world, with more employees taking the reins and standing up for new, flexible ways to get their jobs done. One such trend catching on lately is the "unbossed culture." The term describes a work environment wherein management assumes more of a leadership role than a supervisor role. The hands-off approach makes for fewer check-ins, allowing employees to have more ownership over how they tackle and complete their tasks. While this new workforce trend spreads across multiple industries, the glaring question remains, "Would an unbossed culture work in healthcare?" 

State-level initiatives tackle language-based barriers to worker training, testing McKnights Senior Living; by Kimberly Bonvissuto; 5/20/24Foreign-born workers account for 27% of the nation’s direct care workforce, but many states maintain strict, English-only testing and training requirements that can prevent some immigrants from entering the workforce, according to the results of a new analysis. PHI looked at five state initiatives working to address those language-based barriers to workforce training and certification with a goal of expanding opportunities for workers who do not speak English as their primary language. PHI highlighted initiatives in five states — California, Massachusetts, New York, Washington and Wisconsin — using approaches deemed innnovative to make progress in addressing language access barriers for direct care workers. [Click on the title's link for solutions these five states are using.]

The top Affordable Care Act reporting mistakes we continue to see in 2024 HR Blog; by Eric Gregory; 5/13/24... There are a number of mistakes—some simple and some not-so-simple—that employers should avoid to prevent receiving a panic-inducing assessment letter from the IRS.

800+ California nurses to receive 22.5% pay hike Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 5/10/24Members of the California Nurses Association have approved a new labor contract with Washington Hospital Healthcare System in Fremont, Calif. The four-year agreement covers roughly 840 nurses, according to a union news release. It was approved by union members May 3 and by the Washington Township Health Care District board of directors May 8. ... According to the CNA, the new deal includes a 22.5% across-the-board increase in wages over four years. It also includes "precedent-setting standard expanding infectious disease protocols and workplace violence protections"; language that protects union members' ability to take meal and rest periods; and protections for part-time positions, according to the union.Editor's Note: These new terms reflect nationwide trends of healthcare/nurse strikes and reasons for leaving their jobs, ie., pay, patient safety, workplace violence, work/home life balance, and more.

The state of paid sick leave: 6 notes Becker's Hospital Review; by Kelly Gooch; 5/9/24 Paid sick leave has expanded across the U.S. as more states pass laws related to the issue. Here are six notes about the efforts: ... [Click on the title's link for details.]

Lawmakers press nursing home chains on corporate spending amid staffing rule fight The Hill; by Nathaniel Weixel; 5/6/24Congressional Democrats demanded information about the corporate spending by the operators of three of the country’s largest public, for-profit nursing homes, after the companies said they can’t afford the Biden administration’s new minimum staffing threshold. In letters sent to the companies Sunday, ... [they] pressed for information about buyouts, dividends, and salaries to executives and shareholders. The lawmakers aim to contrast that with the salaries for nurses and nursing aides, amid widespread industry opposition to the new staffing requirements because they are too costly.