Introduction
Currently, the US healthcare system faces a variety of challenges that take root from both inside and outside factors. Along with the rise of costs, lack of transparency, questionable government regulations, cybersecurity and other technology-related troubles, the shortage of healthcare workers is a problem of national importance today. Further, in this paper, the causes of physician shortage and its influence on the work setting will be examined, and the response from healthcare organizations to the issue will be analyzed.
Reasons of the Issue
The gradual decrease in the number of medical workers was noticed a while ago. That tendency is caused by a variety of factors. First, the healthcare system is experiencing a shortage of physicians due to the long training time it takes to become one (Auerbach et al., 2018). Usually, to start working as a doctor, one must get a bachelor’s degree along with a degree from medical school and complete an internship program. In total, it might take up to a decade to become a certified physician; thus, in the short run, the supply of highly qualified specialists is constrained.
Then, the process of medical stuff reduction peaked and accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemics. As everyone knows, this disease is the most dangerous for people of age. Therefore, in addition to the rapid rates of medical staff retirement that was already happening, a large share of hospital workers had to leave in order to maintain their well-being. Moreover, the population of the US is continually aging; thus, the demand for medical care is growing and exceeding the current supply (Auerbach et al., 2018). That is why, today, it is one of the hardest challenges for the healthcare system to meet the needs of the growing number of potential patients with the available number of medical staff.
The Issue’s Impact on the Work Setting
As was stated above, the current situation in the field of healthcare in the US can be described by the shortage of physicians and the continuously increasing number of aging patients with various needs. Consequently, hiring physicians becomes harder due to the lack of available specialists on the market, and retention is becoming more complicated, as well, since new employees have to deal with an overwhelming amount of work. That transfers the burden of responsibility of the patients’ cases to the nurses, who have to work outside of their requirements but still stay underpaid for it. Thus, the nurses tend to become confused and overworked. Therefore, the existing situation creates the need for change in terms of workforce decision-making (Pittman & Scully-Russ, 2016). The work setting should be adapted to the current trends in order for the healthcare system to be able to fulfill its main purpose.
Organizational Response to the Issue
Since the shortage of physicians cannot be compensated in a short time, the government has to come up with an alternative solution of finding more professional workers to keep up with the number of patients. Some of the physicians’ responsibilities can be delegated to advanced-practice registered nurses and nurse practitioners (Auerbach et al., 2018). Moreover, it is believed by Palumbo at al. (2017) that “it is nurses who are arguably in the most pivotal position to drive the system change” (p. 402). That is why, the main focus has to be put on nurses, and their potential ability to provide medical services as well.
This aim is supported by the Academic Progression in Nursing initiative, which is supposed to motivate nurses to obtain bachelor’s degrees in order to expand the range of their skills (Gerardi et al., 2018). This program is dedicated to making it easier for nursing students to get a bachelor’s degrees. For instance, in California, students who enroll in a baccalaureate nursing program and meet all the educational requirements can complete their degree in one year (Gerardi et al., 2018). In addition to stimulating nurses to advance their qualifications by simplifying the educational process, they are encouraged financially, as well. That is provided by Affordable Care Act, which prompts the change from a fee-for-service system to alternative payment models (Palumbo, et al., 2017). The transition from fee-for-service practice is also beneficial in achieving the Quadruple Aim of improving patients’ experience of healthcare, overall national well-being, physicians’ satisfaction and cost reduction (Park, et al., 2018). Thus, the outcoming rise in the number of highly qualified nurses will help to handle the problem of the medical staff shortage, although it will not eliminate it completely.
Conclusion
Finally, it can be stated that the lack of qualified healthcare workers is a long-pending national problem. This work examined the reasons of the physicians shortage, its negative impact on the work setting, and the methods of overcoming that issue that were already conducted. Thus, if the policymakers are able to address the reasons of this issue and take into account the need for systemic change, the healthcare system in the US will be able to function properly.
References
Auerbach, D. I., Staiger, D. O., & Buerhaus, P. I. (2018). Growing ranks of advanced practice clinicians – Implications for the physician workforce. New England Journal of Medicine, 378(25), 2358–2360. Web.
Gerardi, T., Farmer, P., & Hoffman, B. (2018). Moving closer to the 2020 BSN-prepared workforce goal. The American journal of nursing, 118(2), 43–45. Web.
Palumbo, M., Rambur, B., & Hart, V. (2017). Is health care payment reform impacting nurses’ work settings, roles, and education preparation?Journal of professional nursing: official journal of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 33(6), 400–404. Web.
Park, B., Gold, S. B., Bazemore, A., & Liaw, W. (2018). How evolving United States payment models influence primary care and its impact on the Quadruple Aim. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine: JABFM, 31(4), 588–604. Web.
Pittman, P., & Scully-Russ, E. (2016). Workforce planning and development in times of delivery system transformation. Human resources for health, 14(1), 56. Web.