Workforce
Alert
Latest
information on hospitals’ attraction and retention of
talent:
June 28,
2005
Topics:
1.
SAW Offers Workforce
Help
2.
Best
Practices
3.
Hospital Employment Climbs in
May
4.
AMA Survey Examines Resident,
Medical Student Work Hours
5.
OHA Web Site
Gets Face Lift
6.
State Department Release 50,000
Visas for Nurses and Physical Therapists
7.
House Committee Passes Labor –
HHS Spending Bill
8.
Baby Boomers Interested in Health
Care Jobs
9.
Job of the
Month
1. SAW Offers
Workforce Help
Seeking innovative ways to recruit
and retain needed associates,
Developed from 2002-04 with funding
from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training Administration, SAW
has been used at more than 125 hospitals in 22 states including the following
Ohio organizations: Akron General Medical
Center, TriHealth, Kettering Medical Center, Fayette County Memorial Hospital,
Huron Hospital, Euclid Hospital, Marymount Hospital, Hillcrest
Hospital, and South Pointe
Hospital.
Jenny Skinner, Director of
Corporate Education at TriHealth says, "Workforce development is one of the key
components in our overall HR strategic plan. Bringing SAW into the organization
has been the first step at developing a structured approach to invest in our
entry-level employee population. School at Work has become the right thing to do
at TriHealth, for relatively little cost and a large
return."
2. Best
Practices
Helping hospitals attract and
retain talented and dedicated employees and medical staff is a key objective in
OHA's strategic plan. Hospitals have crafted a variety of "Best Policies" to
help alleviate current and future personnel shortages. Listed here are some
great partnering between schools and hospitals to increase the capacity of
nursing programs.
Joint Township
District Memorial Hospital established a partnership with
Rhodes State College for implementing a Nursing Initiative. Its purpose is to
ensure an adequate supply of RNs in the area. Components include: additional
clinical contact hours on non-day shifts; release time for student mentoring;
one-half FTE teaching partner per quarter; non-dedicated space explain this a
bit more, it sounds like a bad thing right now; equipment donation;
scholarships; and release time for instructors to attend meetings at the
college.
EMH Regional
Healthcare System has worked with Lorain County
Community College (LCCC), which has a very large and participative nursing
program, to offer:
1) Preceptors for students in their
nursing management clinicals
2) Emergency fill-in clinical
instructors (i.e., When an instructor broke her foot days before a clinical was
supposed to begin, they were able to offer two managers as a work-sharing
replacement for the semester.)
3) Ongoing clinical instructor time
through a program that was worked out last semester in which EMHs qualified
staff takes regular assignments as instructors but remain on the hospital’s?
payroll. LCCC reimburses the hospital what it would have paid the
faculty. This opens up the pool of potential instructors as it allows
staff to maintain their salaries and benefits. This in turn allows LCCC to
maximize the number of students they can manage in the clinical portions of
their program. It is not quite a break-even for the hospital but it is
worth it to achieve the low RN vacancy rate they currently enjoy. This
year EMH have had to create a clinician internship program as we do not have
openings for all the new graduates expressing an interest in a position with
us.
For hospitals applying for the
CBJTG that involves entry-level incumbent workers, SAW may play a role in your
strategy. Cleveland Clinic Health Services East is using SAW as a college “prep”
class for nurse aides who will enter LPN and other allied health programs. For
information on how SAW can strengthen your CBJTG proposal, please visit www.schoolatwork.com/info/news.asp
or contact Tina Ludwig at tludwig@catalystlearning.com.
3. Hospital
Employment Climbs in May
Employment at the nation’s
hospitals rose 0.13 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted 4,258,400 people,
according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is 5,800 more than in April
and 68,400 more than a year ago. Those numbers without seasonal adjustment show
hospitals employed 4,351,000 people in May, 2,700 more than in April and 68,900
more than a year ago. The nation’s overall unemployment rate declined by
one-tenth of a percentage point in May to 5.1 percent.
4. AMA Survey
Examines Resident, Medical Student Work Hours
The American Medical Association
released responses to a survey that asked member residents and medical students
about recent experiences with work hours related to 2003 medical education
accreditation guidelines that limit resident work hours to 80 hours per week.
During their most recent rotation, medical residents on average reported working
68 hours per week while residents in a surgical specialty averaged 76 hours.
Approximately four in 10 residents and medical students reported “periods of
prolonged sleep deprivation” at least once a week, and half said they believe
fatigue may have had a negative effect on the quality of care they delivered.
More than 69 percent of residents said they know how to report excessive hours,
but only half felt comfortable doing so.
5. OHA Web Site
Gets Face Lift
The OHA
Web site has a fresh face, focused even more on member hospitals and
restructured with a new, easy-to-use navigation format. The new look is at the
same, familiar address – www.ohanet.org – and now features
photos of OHA member hospitals that refresh upon each visit; prominent buttons
outlining top issues of the day, week or even minute; and a complete site
directory from the home page – enabling access to nearly everything on the site
in just one click. If your hospital’s photo is not yet featured on the OHA home
page, please contact Tim Sisson at tims@ohanet.org for specifications
on sending a photo. Questions and comments about the site can be referred to Tim
Sisson, tims@ohanet.org; Tiffany
Himmelreich, tiffanyh@ohanet.org; or Mary Sterenberg,
marys@ohanet.org.
6. State
Department to Release 50,000 Visas for Nurses and Physical
Therapists
Congress authorized The State
Department to release 50,000 unused visas from the past four years for nurses
and physical therapists to use in this and future years. The action will allow
7. House
Committee Passes Labor-HHS Spending Bill
The House Appropriations Committee
approved a fiscal year 2006 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
spending bill that would cut $84.58 million from rural health programs,
including $28.5 million less for outreach grants, and leave funding for nursing
programs roughly unchanged at nearly $150 million. Other HHS appropriation in
the bill include $500 million for hospital bioterrorism, and $125 million for
the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology,
including $50 million for grants to support the health information technology
initiative.
8. Baby Boomers
Interested in Health Care Jobs
A new survey shows that Americans
in their 50s and 60s want work now and in retirement that helps others. This
could be a potential win-win opportunity for health care employers facing
critical labor shortages. Interest in taking jobs to improve the quality of life
in their communities was shown by half the adults aged 50-70. Fifty-six percent
of Americans who may work during their retirement have an interest in working
dealing with health issues, including working in hospitals. The survey was
sponsored by Civic Venture and the MetLife Foundation, and a guide was also
published for baby boomers interested in learning more about jobs that “make a
difference.
http://www.civicventures.org/fileadmin/cv_files/Projects/ync/guide/boomers_guide.pdf.
9. Job of the
Month
The medical assistant assists
doctors in the examination and treatment of patients and performs routing tasks
to ensure offices are run efficiently.
The typical duties include taking
and recording vital signs and medical histories of patients, explaining the
treatment procedures and preparing patients for exams. The medical assistant may
assist during examination, perform basic laboratory test and sterilize medical
instruments. They will also answer telephones, greet patients, maintain the
medical records and handle insurance forms, correspondence and the scheduling of
appointments.
A medical assistant is required to
be a high school graduate or the equivalent thereof and complete a one or two
year program at a vocational school or college. Certification may be attained
through completion of exam sponsored by the American Medical Technologists and
the American Association of Medical Assistants.
The average starting salary is
$19,460 - $27,460 per year with the growth is expected to be 50 percent due to
the increased medical needs of an aging population, more diagnostic tests being
available and increased complexity of paperwork. This information is
provided by a publication offered by the Akron Regional Hospital Association
that offers an overview and examples of the many types of jobs available in the
field of health care. It describes careers for those interested in working
closely with patients and others, and also for those drawn to technology or
advanced support services. To see the publication visit the OHA Workforce Forum at www.ohanet.org/workforce/toolkit.htm.
is
a service of the
614-221-7614,
614-221-4771 (fax)
For
more information contact
Or
Jean Scholz jeans@ohanet.org
Visit us on the
Web at: http://www.ohanet.org/workforce/