TRIMEDX President of Clinical Engineering Kristi McDermott recently contributed a piece in Medical Device News Magazine on staffing challenges healthcare systems are facing and offers three solutions to help alleviate them.
The healthcare industry faces a staffing crisis, from patient-facing roles to technical positions. Burnout among healthcare workers was at a crisis level before the pandemic, and two years of dealing with COVID-19 drove burnout rates even higher. A global report reveals 47% of healthcare workers plan to leave the field by 2025. In light of these statistics, personnel shortages currently rank as hospital CEOs’ top concern, ahead of financial challenges.
In March 2022, 29% of U.S. nurses reported they would likely leave their patient care role within the next year, and McKinsey estimates a shortage of 200,000 to 450,000 nurses by 2025. The situation in clinical engineering departments is equally troubling—22% of clinical engineering technicians are nearing retirement. Between retirements and increasing demand, health systems will need 5,000 new technicians over the next three years, but fewer than 400 graduate from college and enter the workforce each year.