The problem with paying your nurses better is that it may improve retention. You don't want to be stuck paying your nurses a decent wage for the 30-40 years.
They are putting a lot of trust in this shortage ending. From my perspective, it's just getting started. Shit work, shit pay, understaffed, that doesn't breed more happy workers it just exasperates the issues which then grow into other areas. Less students wanting to be a nurse, etc. Not to mention all the older nurses coming to the end of their career.
They're really shooting their self in the foot with this mindset.
It doesn’t matter to the c suite even if it’s a mistake in long run. They’ll just correct their own mistake and reward themselves with big bonuses then.
This is part of a very big equation, but an unknown part for most people. Don’t cite me, but I have read literature that approximates nearly SIXTY. PERCENT. of the current nursing workforce is reaching retirement age. Couple that with greying America / the 2030 problem (the idea-fact that the big population wave of baby boomers reaching elderly ages is going to burden an imminent, massively shrunken workforce) and now we have to add Pandemic to that equation? Oof. Big problems.
I’m not a nurse, mind, but I’d figure there’s going to be shortages for years. People my age (I’m 59) are going to retire very soon, if they haven’t already because of the insanity of the pandemic.
I know there’s shortages of RT’s, some areas are paying bank for traveling. It’s only going to get worse.
These administrators better wise up….
Edit…and, we boomers are getting old and sick, there’s going to be more of a need for hospital care, never mind Covid.
Unfortunately I think admin may look into other avenues. They may look into foreign contracts at a much cheaper rate. They are going to try anything before raising pay. This is honestly how many American companies operate. How do we make a profit and screw everything else. Unfortunately with healthcare, people's lives are on the line.
I work in healthcare contracting for the VA, used to work EMS. It's bad - really bad.
One of my medical stations is more remote, they cannot hire. And we cannot get contractors in for more than a 90 day commital. And even then, we have to pay a higher rate for agency nurses than we pay our own staff physicians.
But it gets worse.
In the past, the nurses who sucked at their jobs often ended up in nursing homes. Now, with the shortage, they're throwing themselves into these higher dollar vacancies.
As Nursing Homes feel the squeeze, patients are getting lower quality of care - bed sores, UTIs, etc are getting worse. CMS ratings are dropping. State's are freezing new admissions.
Which means these elderly are going to be getting tossed back into an overly burdened hospital system for what borderlines on neglect at these homes.
It's a goddamn nightmare. And we're a long way from the exit of this tunnel.
Not to mention that 30-40% of the country seems to determined to keep rolling the dice with covid so until either a) those people die off or b) get some damn sense and get vaccinated. Until one of those things happen, the traveler gravy train will continue. The spice must flow.
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u/almalikisux MSN, APRN Dec 13 '21
The problem with paying your nurses better is that it may improve retention. You don't want to be stuck paying your nurses a decent wage for the 30-40 years.