The hospital work-force shortage is getting worse.
A new survey by the American Hospital Association found that vacancy rates for nurses, pharmacists and radiology technicians in hospitals are all above 10 percent and getting worse, particularly in nursing.
The average vacancy rate for registered nurses is 13 percent, but one in seven hospitals nationwide reported RN vacancy rates higher than 20 percent, and nurse vacancy rates have increased for 60 percent of all hospitals since 1999.
Hospital pharmacists are right behind nurses, with a vacancy rate of 12.7 percent. Radiology techs are the scarcest of all hospital staff, with an average vacancy rate of 15.3 percent.
Cole Edmonson, director of nursing operations at Medical City Dallas hospital, said nursing remains the focus for much of the nation. Part of the problem is that although the supply has held steady, demand has rocketed.
“We used to only compete with other hospitals, but now we compete with all sorts of companies, technology companies, pharmacies, for our staff,” Edmonson said. “We compete with insurance companies more than ever. They take nurses to be case managers and away from the bedside.”
Many hospital workers also go into sales. As the equipment they work with becomes increasingly complex, they are snapped up by manufacturers looking for knowledgeable sales reps and offering better salaries, Edmonson said.
Hospitals are trying to respond, the AHA survey found.
Forty-one percent of hospitals said they offer sign-on bonuses, and 56 percent say they rely on contract nurses.
But the shortage will likely get worse before it gets better, the AHA found. The average nurse vacancy rate is likely to reach 15 percent by 2003, for example, the survey found.