Is the ‘great resignation’ affecting New Zealand’s healthcare workforce?

Written by Tom Varghese

Across the globe, the ‘Great Resignation’, defined as the mass exodus of unsatisfied workers, has hit few industries harder than healthcare. According to some reports, the field has lost 20% of its workforce. It has hit healthcare workers in a unique way, with abuse, misinformation, burnout and trauma on a massive scale.

Health systems have been doing everything they can to ensure sufficient staffing, but it has been a challenge to meet the need. It’s had to be met by contract labour and additional support, which is extremely expensive and can often be challenging to integrate into the regular care team. To combat some of the burnout, experts from the American Hospital Association created a 2022 healthcare workforce rescue package. One approach, "Getting Rid of Stupid Stuff" aims to streamline the workflow of medical professionals by reducing the number of clicks for common workflows or reducing the number of inbox notifications.

Because of those staffing challenges it is fair to say that we haven’t yet hit a new normal in the health system. We continue to see reports coming out about the impact of delayed care, and that still hasn’t fully run its course through the system.

 

Another point worth noting is that we haven’t really built in a decompression space for a lot of healthcare workers. The broadscale use of the term ‘burnout’ is a curious one, as some believe that it implies that the healthcare workers themselves aren’t resilient enough to deal with what is happening. When, in reality, what is happening is an untenable situation for anyone to individually survive in, let alone thrive in.

 

These departures not only create current and fear of future staffing shortages, they raise another question about where all these highly skilled workers going. Some healthcare workers are giving up clinical work altogether and turning to creative pursuits.

 

A shift in overall healthcare culture, an improved societal recognition and celebration combined with adequate financial compensation could go a long way to help retain our indispensable healthcare workforce. 

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