Burnout – Health care providers are vulnerable to burnout, defined as physical, emotional and mental exhaustion. Burnout can cause poor performance, which can lead to medical errors. It can also cause feelings of guilt and shame among providers. The pandemic exacerbated burnout among clinical staff.
- In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, just under 32% of doctors reported feeling burned out in 2019.
- In 2022, that figure rose to 40%.
- Nurses fared similarly.
- Nearly 41% reported burnout in 2019; by 2022, the number was a shade over 49%.
- Burnout can lead directly to staffing shortages in health care, as people leave the profession.
According to a survey by staffing agency Incredible Health, 34% of nurses said they would leave their jobs by the end of 2022, with 44% saying that stress and burnout contributed to their decision.
What is the shortage of health care workers in the UK?
NHS staff shortages in England could exceed 570,000 by 2036, leaked document warns The NHS in needs a massive injection of homegrown doctors, nurses, GPs and dentists to avert a recruitment crisis that could leave it short of 571,000 staff, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.
A long-awaited workforce plan produced by England says the health service is already operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs, and that number could balloon to 571,000 staff by 2036 on current trends. The 107-page blueprint, which is being examined by ministers, sets out detailed proposals to end the understaffing that has plagued the health service for years.
It says that without radical action, the NHS in England will have 28,000 fewer, 44,000 fewer community nurses and an even greater lack of paramedics within 15 years. It suggests that the NHS will not be able to cope with the increasing demand for care that will arise in coming years as a result of the growing and ageing population.
Services in rural areas, which already struggle to attract enough staff, will be left unable to give patients – especially older people – the help and treatment they need, it warns. NHS England also makes clear in the blueprint its view, which is widely shared by health experts and staff groups, that the government must ditch its reliance on hiring more and more overseas health professionals and spending billions of pounds a year on temporary staff.
A that the NHS was operating with 154,000 fewer full-time staff than it needs – far more than the official figure of 124,000. In a thinly veiled plea to ministers to kickstart an ambitious programme to give the NHS enough personnel, it added: “Without any intervention or improvement in productivity, the workforce shortfall will grow to 571,000 full-time equivalents by 2036/37.” Those 571,000 staff are the equivalent of more than a third (37%) of the service’s existing 1.6 million-strong workforce.
However, the Guardian understands that the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is playing a key role in behind-the-scenes moves by the Treasury to water down NHS England’s proposals to double the number of doctors that the UK trains and increase the number of new nurses trained every year by 77% – because it would cost several billion pounds to do that.
His stance has led to a standoff with his cabinet colleague Steve Barclay, who is backing the plan. The health secretary believes that while NHS England’s projections are ambitious, they are also a realistic assessment of the dramatic scale of action needed to eradicate the severe staff shortages that are hampering the NHS’s ability to meet waiting time targets for A&E care, cancer treatment and surgery, and endangering the quality and safety of care that patients receive.
A senior NHS leader said: “Jeremy Hunt has been very resistant to the numbers in the workforce plan. The Treasury and Hunt don’t want numbers in it. They want it to be not very precise. They want the numbers to be projected in a different way that would be less expensive and to not commit to training specific numbers of doctors, nurses and others.
“While intellectually Hunt gets it, and emotionally he gets the patient safety argument, it seems that his priority, if the government has any financial headroom, is to use that for tax cuts or giving the army more money rather than training more doctors, nurses and speech and language therapists.
- The Department of and Social Care (DHSC) are flying the flag for the plan and what’s needed.
- Steve Barclay wants the plan to move forward.
- But there’s some significant pushback from the Treasury and from the chancellor himself.” Hunt is balking at the cost of taking forward NHS England’s proposals.
- The document says that while the UK currently has 7,500 medical school places, double that – 15,000 – is required.
Similarly, the number of trainee GPs in England needs to jump from 4,000 to 6,000 and the annual supply of nurses to increase from 29,865 to 52,722 – a 77% uplift. The plan also says that the number of dentists needs to rise by 40%, and of physiotherapists and their allied health professionals by 20%.
- The NHS needs to increase the overall number of all types of health professionals it trains from 66,032 to 102,484, a 55% rise, the document concludes.
- It is due to be published shortly, once the disagreement over its contents has been resolved.
- Hunt’s stance is in contrast to his enthusiastic backing, while chair of the Commons health select committee, for a massive expansion of the NHS workforce and publication of regular projections for how many staff of different types it needed to keep pace with the growing burden of illness.
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- After newsletter promotion The plan raises major concerns about the use of temporary staff to ensure safe staffing levels in hospitals.
- Spending on bank and agency staff has risen by 51% and 26% respectively since 2020, it says.
- Use of agency staff is expensive and offers poor value for money for the taxpayer.” It also cites “increasing evidence that use of temporary staffing – particularly agency staff – can have a negative impact on patient and staff experience, and continuity of care.” It also voices unease about the recent surge in the number of overseas workers in the NHS.
They now account for one in six of the workforce – double the number in 2014. “International recruitment has supported necessary increases in some staff groups, such as doctors and nurses, but does not offer a universal solution to rising workforce demand,” the plan says.
- Opposition parties accused the Conservatives of leaving the NHS unable to do its job properly by doing too little about NHS understaffing for years.
- Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said: “This is a national emergency.
- The NHS is experiencing the worst workforce crisis in its history and it is crying out for the government to act.
Until the Conservatives admit they have failed to train enough staff, patients will continue to wait too long for the care they need.” Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrats’ health spokesperson, said: “Our NHS is already struggling to recruit and retain the staff it desperately needs but these future projections should be a wake-up call to a Conservative government that continues to sit on its hands.
Those dedicated NHS workers that turn up day in, day out need to know that the cavalry is coming.” Anita Charlesworth, the director of research at the Health Foundation thinktank, said: “Around half of newly recruited NHS doctors and nurses are currently trained overseas – in the long term this is unsustainable and unethical in the context of a global shortage of medical staff.
“Relying on agency staff to plug gaps pushes up the cost of care, a prime example of the inefficiency resulting from the Treasury’s failure to spend on training new staff. The NHS workforce plan must set out comprehensive, long-term measures to recruit and retain the domestically trained staff needed by the NHS, and commit the funding to pay for this.”
- A government spokesperson said: “We’re growing the healthcare workforce, recruiting 50,000 more nurses and we have almost hit our target of delivering 26,000 additional primary care staff.
- “The NHS will soon publish a long-term workforce plan to support and grow the workforce.”
- A DHSC source said: “We are driving forward progress to recruit more staff into the NHS to help treat patients more quickly, with more than 4,800 doctors and almost 10,900 more nurses compared to a year ago.”
: NHS staff shortages in England could exceed 570,000 by 2036, leaked document warns
How many healthcare workers are there in the US?
Healthcare Workers Healthcare is the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. financial system. It employs over 18 million workers. Women represent nearly 80% of the healthcare work force. Healthcare workers face a wide range of hazards on the job including:
Sharps injuries Chemical and drug exposure Back injuries Latex allergies Violence Stress
Although it’s possible to prevent or reduce these hazards, healthcare workers continue to experience injuries and illnesses at work. Cases of nonfatal work injury and illness with healthcare workers are among the highest of any industry sector.
is a training developed for emergency workers who deploy to disaster sites caused by weather, earthquakes, epidemics, and other catastrophic events. CDC provides an assortment of COVID-19 guidance for healthcare workers on the page. Link to clinical guidance, home and hospital care, care for special populations, and other healthcare topics. The seeks to raise awareness of mental health issues, including the risk of suicide and substance use disorders, eliminate stigma and barriers to accessing care, and identify and improve data, screening tools, trainings, resources, and policies to address health worker mental health. Personal Protective Technology (PPT) plays an important role in protecting healthcare personnel. Reflecting on the nation’s past decade of experiences with infectious and non-infectious hazards, the NIOSH PPT Program has developed a strategic approach to PPT research, development, performance standards and test methods, and conformity assessment. Click on to learn more.
Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others is a NIOSH video for home health workers. It provides a brief overview of the Caring for Yourself While Caring for Others course. This training is an online, continuing education course for registered nurses and other healthcare professionals.
In the evening At night Early in the morning Long work hours
It provides workplace and personal strategies to improve sleep, alertness, energy, and overall health when on these work schedules. To develop this training, NIOSH worked together with:
The American Nurses Association Nursing faculty Focus groups, staff nurses, and nurse managers
Continuing education certificates are available through the CDC Training and Continuing Education online system. Take this 3.5 hour course at any time that is convenient. You can also complete the training over a series of 15 or 20 minute time periods, if desired. : Healthcare Workers
What are the challenges of human resources for health in the Philippines?
Background – The 1978 Declaration of Alma Ata on primary health care (PHC) revolutionized the world’s interpretation of health with the core principles of universal access to care, equity, community participation, intersectoral collaboration and appropriate use of resources,
- Moving forward, reforms towards Universal Health Coverage are hinged on strong primary care systems to provide essential health services to all.
- The Philippines has a long history of PHC having adopted the approach in 1981 as a national strategy.
- This strategy relies heavily on the community through barangay health stations (BHS) that serve a population of 5,000 and rural health units (RHUs)/city health offices (CHOs) that serve a population of 20,000,
The devolution of health services in 1991 mandated the management of primary care facilities at the barangay, city, or municipal levels to local governments units (LGU), The DOH, on the other hand, sets the standards for primary care facilities, including their staffing.
- In addition to formal cadres of health workers under the primary care facility (e.g., physicians, nurses, and midwives), Barangay Health Worker (BHW) complement health services at the community level, acting as the first point of contact between the healthcare system and the rest of the community,
- In 2019, building upon successes in the past 30 years of health reforms, the Government of the Philippines signed the Universal Health Care (UHC) Law (Republic Act 11223) which provides a strong agenda for effective health workforce management in the country,
The UHC Law highlights the importance of the primary care approach and provides for the formulation and implementation of human resources for health (HRH) policies and plans that generate, recruit, retrain, regulate, retain, and reassess the health workforce based on population health needs,
- UHC ensures that everyone has access to well-trained, culturally sensitive, and competent health workers.
- The best strategy for achieving this is by strengthening multidisciplinary teams at the primary health care level,
- Ey in this endeavour is the availability of competent and well-motivated health workers at the community level,
The Philippines, however, faces several HRH challenges. These challenges include a shortage of health workers, maldistribution, and an urban bias that causes most rural areas to be severely understaffed. Some health workers are employed on a contractual basis, either by the government or development partners.
- This has negative consequences on retention and biases service provision towards specific disease programs,
- The HRH shortages and inequities in the Philippines translate to disparities in the provision of quality of health care services, impacting critical PHC services, such as Tuberculosis (TB) and family planning (FP),
TB remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality despite sustained investments on the prevention, control and management by the government and partners. In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that there were 260,000 projected cases in the country with 28,000 dying per year,
The report further highlighted the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB and extensively drug-resistant TB across population groups have significantly increased. In addition, the 2017 Philippines National Demographic and Health Survey indicated the low uptake of FP services noting that one in every five married Filipinas wishing to postpone their next birth or stop childbearing are not using contraceptive,
This is despite provisions in the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law (Republic Act No.10354) guaranteeing universal access to FP information in all public health facilities with emphasis in the primary care level facilities, The UHC Law echoes the need for evidence-based planning for HRH at all levels of care with an emphasis on primary care.
- Evidence-based HRH planning provides the information necessary for mobilizing adequate resources based on these needs.
- Furthermore, it recognizes that having adequate staffing in health facilities requires critical consideration for HRH planning beyond the usual workforce to population ratios.
- In response to this need to conduct evidence-based planning, the Philippine Department of Health (DOH), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded Human Resources for Health 2030 (HRH2030) Philippines Project implemented by Chemonics International, in 2019 used the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) methodology with a focus on the four most prevalent cadres, namely, nurses, midwives, physicians and medical technologists in primary care health facilities in selected regions of the country.
While the DOH and other stakeholder conducted workforce analysis studies in the past using population and health worker densities, this study was the first in the Philippines to adopt the WISN methodology step by step to provide evidence for staffing requirements for the country’s context.
- The WISN methodology offers an objective and scientific method to estimate health workforce requirements based on actual workloads, looking at both the health service and non-health service activities that are conducted by health workers using actual service statistics from the facility,
- The WISN study allowed the DOH to conduct a thorough analysis of the workload of physicians, nurses, midwives, and medical technologists at BHS, RHUs/CHOs.
The study resulted in the identification of staffing needs, as well as minimum and maximum staffing standards, for these cadres to carry out PHC and ultimately contribute to achieving UHC.
Why aren t there enough nurses UK?
This includes: a lack of long-term workforce planning by the government and the NHS; Brexit leading to a loss of staff coming from the EU; concerns over pay; and job pressures due to increasing staff shortages. In November 2022, the King’s Fund published a report examining NHS staffing shortages.
Why does it take so long to get healthcare in the UK?
With d emand for hospital treatment outstripping capacity even before COVID-19, i t is no surprise that the demands of delivering care during a pandemic have led to significant backlogs and longer waits for patients. This page provides analysis on capacity in secondary care services and is updated monthly with new data. Last updated in April 2023
Is UK still in need of care workers?
Image source, Stuart Ratcliffe/BBC Image caption, Latest figures show the number of care workers in England fell for the first time and the number of empty care jobs rose by 52% in a year Thousands of carer roles are unfilled in England and the overall number of care workers is falling, leaving more people without support.
What is it like for those working in the industry and why are some choosing to stick it out, while others leave? Image source, Stuart Ratcliffe/BBC Image caption, Debra Parnell says some carers leave after a week because they realise it is “not an easy job” “We don’t do this job for the money, we do it because we enjoy what we do,” says Debra Purnell.
The carer of 50 years runs a care company in Daventry, Northamptonshire. Like many businesses similar to hers, she is finding it harder to retain staff. She says it is “not an easy job” and some people leave after only a week when they realise the amount of hard work involved.
Her hope is for the government to give carers more recognition and funding towards training. Latest figures, published in October, show the number of care workers in England fell for the first time and the number of empty care roles was up by more than half. The industry body, Skills for Care, found in the year to March 2022 there were 1.79 million posts in adult social care, of which 165,000 were vacant – a rise of 52% on the previous year.
It said the number of filled posts fell by 50,000 compared with the previous year – the first drop ever. These figures referred both to staff in care homes and workers who support people in their own homes. Image source, Stuart Ratcliffe/BBC Image caption, Nicole Greenaway, 24, says being a carer is a job she enjoys Among Ms Purnell’s workforce is carer Nicole Greenaway.
The 24-year-old from Crick says she wanted to work in the sector after being a carer for a family. Since starting the role two years ago, she enjoys the satisfaction of helping people with their day-to-day needs. “You’re their extra limb and you’re there just for conversation and the chat and housework and so forth.
“I would say we could probably do with more recognition from the government because we are doing an amazing job as it is, but it’s a job I enjoy more than anything,” she says.
What profession is there a shortage of in the UK?
UK Shortage Occupation List 2023 – The SOL is made up of two tables, which also specify the Standard Occupational Classification Code (SOC) for each eligible role. Table 1: Shortage occupations where applicants for entry clearance or permission to stay may be paid 80% of the going rate for the occupation code:
| Occupation code | Job types included on the shortage occupations list | Areas of the UK where there is a shortage | Annual salary (80% of going rate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1181 | Health services and public health managers and directors – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £30,720 (£15.15 per hour) |
| 1242 | Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £21,360 (£10.53 per hour) |
| 2111 | Chemical scientists – only jobs in the nuclear industry | Scotland only | 80% of going rate: £21,360 (£10.53 per hour) |
| 2112 | Biological scientists and biochemists – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £23,760 (£11.72 per hour) |
| 2113 | Physical scientists – only the following jobs in the construction-related ground engineering industry: engineering geologist hydrogeologist geophysicist | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £29,200 (£14.40 per hour) |
| 2113 | Physical scientists – only the following jobs in the oil and gas industry: geophysicist geoscientist geologist geochemist technical services manager in the decommissioning and waste areas of the nuclear industry senior resource geologist and staff geologist in the mining sector | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £29,200 (£14.40 per hour) |
| 2114 | Social and humanities scientists – only archaeologists | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £20,720 (£10.22 per hour) |
| 2121 | Civil engineers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £28,000 (£13.81 per hour) |
| 2122 | Mechanical engineers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £26,720 (£13.18 per hour) |
| 2123 | Electrical engineers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £29,600 (£14.60 per hour) |
| 2124 | Electronics engineers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £27,760 (£13.69 per hour) |
| 2126 | Design and development engineers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £27,280 (£13.45 per hour) |
| 2127 | Production and process engineers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £26,480 (£13.06 per hour) |
| 2129 | Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £26,160 (£12.90 per hour) |
| 2135 | IT business analysts, architects and systems designers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £29,280 (£14.44 per hour) |
| 2136 | Programmers and software development professionals – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £26,640 (£13.14 per hour) |
| 2137 | Web design and development professionals – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £20,800 (£10.26 per hour) |
| 2139 | Information technology and communications professionals not elsewhere classified – only cyber security specialists | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £25,440 (£12.54 per hour) |
| 2216 | Veterinarians – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £26,000 (£12.82 per hour) |
| 2425 | Actuaries, economists and statisticians – only bio-informaticians and informaticians | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £26,240 (£12.94 per hour) |
| 2431 | Architects – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £28,000 (£13.81 per hour) |
| 2461 | Quality control and planning engineers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £24,400 (£12.03 per hour) |
| 3111 | Laboratory technicians – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £14,560 (£7.18 per hour) |
| 3411 | Artists – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £16,800 (£8.28 per hour) |
| 3414 | Dancers and choreographers – only skilled classical ballet dancers or skilled contemporary dancers who meet the standard required by internationally recognised UK ballet or contemporary dance companies. The company must be endorsed as being internationally recognised by a UK industry body such as the Arts Councils (of England, Scotland or Wales). | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £23,840 (£11.76 per hour) |
| 3415 | Musicians – only skilled orchestral musicians who are leaders, principals, sub-principals or numbered string positions, and who meet the standard required by internationally recognised UK orchestras. The orchestra must a full member of the Association of British Orchestras. | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £22,000 (£10.85 per hour) |
| 3416 | Arts officers, producers and directors – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £24,000 (£11.83 per hour) |
| 3421 | Graphic designers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £18,800 (£9.27 per hour) |
| 5215 | Welding trades – only high integrity pipe welders, where the job requires 3 or more years’ related on-the-job experience. This experience must not have been gained through illegal working. | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £18,240 (£8.99 per hour) |
| 6145 | Care workers and home carers – private households or individuals (other than sole traders sponsoring someone to work for their business) cannot sponsor Skilled Worker applicants | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | No going rate – the salary must be at least £20,480 per year or £10.10 per hour |
| 6146 | Senior care workers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland | 80% of going rate: £13,520 (£6.67 per hour) |
Table 2: Shortage occupations in eligible health and education occupation codes where going rates are based on national pay scales:
| Occupation code | Job types included on the shortage occupations list | Areas of the UK where there is a shortage |
|---|---|---|
| 2211 | Medical practitioners – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2212 | Psychologists – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2213 | Pharmacists – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2217 | Medical radiographers – all jobs (including radiotherapy practitioners / technologists) | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2219 | Health professionals not elsewhere classified – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2221 | Physiotherapists – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2222 | Occupational therapists – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2223 | Speech and language therapists – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2231 | Nurses – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2314 | Secondary education teaching professionals – only teachers in maths, physics, science (where an element of physics will be taught), computer science and modern foreign languages | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 2314 | Secondary education teaching professionals – only teachers in Gaelic | Scotland only |
| 2315 | Primary and nursery education teaching professionals – only Gaelic medium teachers | Scotland only |
| 2442 | Social workers – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 3213 | Paramedics – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
| 6141 | Nursing auxiliaries and assistants – all jobs | England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland |
What is the largest healthcare workforce?
THE NURSING WORKFORCE IN CONTEXT – The number of nurses in the United States has grown steadily over the past 100 years. The nursing workforce is the largest among all the health care professions and is nearly four times the size of the physician workforce.
RNs practice in a wide variety of care delivery settings, and they provide care to people living in both urban and rural areas and to vulnerable populations, including women, people of color (POC), American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/ANs), low-income individuals, individuals with disabilities, and people who are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligible).
The shift in nursing education from hospital-based diploma programs to degrees from colleges and universities has prepared RNs for more highly skilled roles that have expanded their reach and impact, benefiting both nurses and their employers. The emergence and growth of nurse practitioners (NPs) in the mid-1960s, together with other advanced practice nursing roles (certified nurse midwives, nurse anesthetists, and clinical nurse specialists), represent a significant advancement.
Nurses also benefit individuals, communities, and society through their efforts as scientists conducting clinical and health services research; as executives and entrepreneurs leading health care organizations; as members of hospital and health system boards; as public health officers and educators; and as members of federal, state, and local governments.
For decades, nurse employment has grown concurrently with increased U.S. spending on acute care, seemingly impervious to either government or market-oriented efforts aimed at constraining the overutilization of costly health care services. With unemployment rates rarely exceeding 1.5 percent, job availability has seldom been a problem for nurses ( BLS, 2020 ; Zhang et al., 2018 ).
- Even during economic downturns, RN employment typically has increased, sometimes dramatically.
- Hospitals added nearly 250,000 nursing full-time equivalents (FTEs) during the Great Recession, for example, including in economically depressed areas of the country ( Buerhaus and Auerbach, 2011 ).
- Even so, vacancies exist in some areas, including Indian Health Service areas, with uneven distribution across several states, ranging from 10 to 31 percent ( GAO, 2018 ).
RNs and APRNs are among the most highly paid health professionals, making the nursing profession an economic engine for families and communities. In 2018, national RN earnings averaged $76,000, and with an estimated 3.35 million RNs working on an FTE basis in the United States, total RN earnings amounted to roughly $255 billion (not counting nonwage benefits).
- As a result, the value of the clinical care they deliver typically appears on the cost side rather than the revenue side of earnings statements for provider organizations.
- When thinking about how nurses can promote health equity, however, one should not lose sight of their contributions to the economic as well as the social and environmental fabric of the places where they live and work.
The COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated the critical importance of nurses, but it also has disrupted long-standing employment patterns and threatened nurses’ financial, psychological, and physical resilience. Nurses heroically risked exposure to the coronavirus each day to care for patients and their families, sometimes without adequate personal protective equipment.
But the pandemic also exposed nurses’ vulnerability to their clinical employers’ dependence on reimbursable services, especially elective procedures, to remain in business. With revenue from private health insurers in steep decline, many hospitals and clinics seeking quick reductions in costs have cut back on nursing through furloughs and layoffs ( Gooch, 2020 ).
This counterproductive response to the pandemic could cause long-lasting damage to the nursing profession and the health care system. This and other destabilizing effects on the nursing workforce associated with COVID-19 merit close attention.
What are the major problem caused by the lack of human resources?
Low morale – Poor HR practices will likely spread to impact all levels of the company. Such negative impacts may include employee conflict, lack of recognition, inadequate training, and poor team building among other issues. Due to the lack of an effective HR management strategy, employees may feel that such negative situations will not improve. As such, this will likely damage workplace morale.
Why do nurses prefer UK?
#5: Enjoy Paid Holidays – The UK is one of the top countries in the world that takes care of its work force with the best perks. Nursing jobs in the UK for Indian nurses come with paid holidays – 27 paid days every year and an additional 8 bank paid holidays to vacation and spend time with your family.
Are nurses underpaid in UK?
LONDON As British professionals across multiple sectors continue to stage a massive wave of strikes to protest the tightening cost-of-living crisis, upcoming labor action by nurses has stoked more fears than others, shining a spotlight on the country’s healthcare system.
- In their biggest walkout in the National Health Service’s (NHS) history, nurses are set to go on strike on Dec.15 and Dec.20 over a pay dispute with the government.
- The Royal College of Nursing (RCN), the world’s largest nursing union and professional body, said it had been given no choice but to strike after the government said their demand for a 19% pay rise was unaffordable.
Their action will take place this week in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland after talks fell through between the union and the country’s health secretary. Around 100,000 nurses are expected to participate in the strike, though emergency care services will continue.
More than 10,000 ambulance workers in England and Wales will also strike for four days before Christmas. While these strikes were sparked by the bitter cost-of-living crisis amid soaring inflation, the nurses’ walkout is the result of a clear domino effect after a decade of pay erosion and deterioration in the economy, as well as piling workloads triggered partially by Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
About 47,000 unfilled nurse posts in NHS According to a study conducted by the London School of Economics, real earnings for nurses have lagged behind employees in other professions in the UK, especially those in the private sector. “In the private sector, real median earnings fell by 3.2% between 2011 and 2021, while nurses’ median earnings diminished by 6%,” it said.
- As nurses’ salaries declined substantially in real terms from 2010-11 to 2021-22, the annual rate of departure for nurses increased from 8.5% to 10.9%, the research showed.
- The total number of leavers rose from 27,000 to over 38,000 over the period, marking a 42% rise.
- Also striking, the study found that about 47,000 NHS nurse positions remained vacant as of June 2022, the highest figure on record.
“Nursing is a highly-skilled, safety-critical profession. Over the last 10 years, nurses in England have seen a real-terms pay cut of almost 20%. But, this strike action is about more than pay,” RCN representative Claire Flatt told Anadolu Agency. There are nearly 50,000 nurse vacancies in England alone, and many experienced nurses are leaving the profession, she explained, adding that workloads were becoming unsustainable, leading to poor care and compromised safety for patients.
“More worryingly, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service has confirmed a 10% drop in the number of students accepted onto nursing courses across the UK this year, perhaps demonstrating students are being put off a career in nursing due to poor pay, poor working conditions, and with the government removing student bursaries in England, nurses will qualify with an excess of £24,000 (nearly $29,500) in student debt.” Government should focus on more than pay rise Anadolu Agency also spoke to Maria Kublova, a staff nurse from University College Hospital in London, who said the government should focus not just on paying nurses fairly, but on retaining nurses already in the system, ensuring that they stay longer by showing them greater appreciation.
“I’m just disappointed that the announcement of the strike didn’t awaken any discussion with the government because that’s what usually happens when you announce a strike, isn’t it?” Despite the widespread strikes across a multitude of sectors, the government has not changed its behavior on the pay dispute, said Kublova.
- So hopefully, this walkout will mobilize forces.” Decline in patient safety, care A veteran NHS nurse, Pakize Durmaz, explained there was also a huge staff shortage in her profession when she first came to the UK 20 years ago.
- Unfortunately, as a country policy, they don’t train enough nurses here.” One reason for this, she explained, was that employing more nurses had little appeal and would bear high costs.
Hiring a nurse in Britain “costs nearly £30,000-£40,000, while the cost of recruiting a nurse from abroad costs £15,000.” Funding for domestic nurse training has been diminishing steadily in the UK since the 1980s, which is why the NHS has sought to fill this gap with health professionals from the Philippines and India.
But, COVID-19 and its resulting travel restrictions threw a wrench in this process, Durmaz said, adding that many of the more experienced nurses were retiring earlier at 55 over the huge pressure that they were left to shoulder. Also, many nurses who came from mainland Europe to work in England had returned to their home countries due to Brexit, while those from the Philippines began seeking better pay in the US.
But it’s not just the money, according to Durmaz. “What happens when there’s a shortage of nurses when the workload increases? You can’t provide safe care to patients as you would like and this puts nurses under heavy stress. Nurses are already exhausted, so this causes them to think the government doesn’t listen to them and patient safety is also endangered.” Anadolu Agency website contains only a portion of the news stories offered to subscribers in the AA News Broadcasting System (HAS), and in summarized form.
Are UK nurses paid less than other countries?
Annual gross salaries of nurses (2020) – Besides Luxembourg, the annual gross starting salary was above €50,000 in seven countries. Germany (€46,829) and the UK (€42,588) are not among them, according to OECD data.
Do UK citizens get free healthcare in Europe?
Using your EHIC or GHIC – An EHIC or GHIC covers state healthcare, not private treatment. With an EHIC or GHIC you can get emergency or necessary medical care for the same cost as a resident in the country you’re visiting. This means that you can get healthcare at a reduced cost or for free.
- Find out what your card covers in each country,
- You can select the country you are planning to visit from the drop-down list.
- An EHIC or GHIC is not a replacement for travel insurance – it does not cover everything, such as mountain rescue or being flown back to the UK (medical repatriation).
- Make sure you have both before you travel.
You’ll need to pay in full for treatment if you do not have an EHIC, GHIC or provisional replacement certificate (PRC). The following European countries do not accept the EHIC or GHIC :
- the Isle of Man
- Jersey
- Monaco
- San Marino
- the Vatican
Is there a shortage of medical doctors in the UK?
The 2019 Conservative manifesto promised to increase the UK’s GP numbers by 6,000 by 2024, That target will clearly not be met. In fact, the proportion of GPs working full time in England has fallen compared with last year, according to the latest figures from NHS Digital,
There were 26,706 permanent qualified GPs working in England in December 2022, down from 27,064 in December 2021. And if projections from the Health Foundation prove to be accurate, the shortfall is set to increase to around 8,800 GPs by 2030-31, equivalent to one in four posts being vacant. But is the UK unique among wealthy nations in suffering from a crisis in primary care? It appears not.
Australia has a GP shortage that is predicted to grow to more than 11,000 by 2032, with the demand for GP services increasing by 38.5% in that time. Likewise, Canada and New Zealand have similar GP workforce problems. In New Zealand, half of its GP workforce intends to retire in the next decade.
- While Canada has seen a modest 1.2% increase in the number of family doctors, the demand for primary care services continues to outpace the supply of doctors.
- In the UK, a quarter of all doctors are GPs, whereas it is one in three in Australia, and nearly one in two in Canada.
- Extrapolating from World Health Organization data, Australia and Canada have roughly similar numbers of GPs per head of population (12 and 11 per 10,000 population respectively), but the UK lags considerably behind (less than eight per 10,000 population).
However, international comparisons are difficult because how GPs are defined and what they do differs from country to country. In the UK, the nature of general practice has changed considerably in the past two decades. British GPs deal with more than minor ailments.
In addition to triaging referrals to hospital specialists and providing health screening and vaccination services, they also manage patients’ chronic diseases (such as diabetes), which were previously handled by hospital specialists. They also play a key role in coordinating healthcare for patients in long-stay care facilities, such as nursing and residential homes.
British GPs are also having to care for more patients with complex health conditions because the population is ageing and many people have more than one chronic condition – known as “multi-morbidity”. One English study estimated that over a quarter of patients have two or more long-term conditions,
- Having multi-morbidity is associated with increased health service use.
- These patients account for more than half of all GP consultations and hospital admissions.
- Multi-morbidity is also much more common in older populations.
- A large Scottish study found that more than 80% of patients over the age of 85 years had multi-morbidity, and, on average, they had more than three long-term conditions.
It is unsurprising that the demand for GP services has gone up over the years in the UK, and will continue to do so, as the proportion of the population that is elderly increases. The UK Office for National Statistics estimates that the proportion of people aged 85 years and over will almost double over the next 25 years, 
Office for National Statistics
Is there a shortage of doctors and nurses in the UK?
High vacancies – The NHS has long carried a stubbornly high number of unfilled vacancies, a problem that far predates the pandemic. As of December 2022, there were around 124,000 vacancies in secondary care in England. Of these, 8,728 vacancies were medical, which means 5.9% of all medical posts were vacant.
This vacancy rate is slightly higher than it was a year ago (5.8%), but lower than it was before the pandemic in December 2019 (6.7%). The greatest proportion of vacancies remains in nursing, with 43,619 unfilled posts (10.8% of nursing posts). Care is delivered by multi-disciplinary teams, so nursing shortages directly impact the medical workforce who must take on a greater burden of work as a result.
High vacancy rates create a vicious cycle: shortages produce environments of chronic stress, which increases pressure on existing staff, and in turn encourages higher turnover and absence.
Are public health professionals in demand in the UK?
Job Prospects after Public Health Course in UK Public health is a growing profession in the UK. With a booming healthcare sector and several companies and agencies to work for, the UK is a very good choice for public health MSc graduates to work in.
Which medical specialty has a shortage of physicians UK?
Three of the main areas of shortage are psychiatry, general practice and emergency medicine, although all specialties have been impacted. The Health Secretary announced in 2015 that 5,000 additional GP posts would be in place by 2020; the current situation is that numbers have fallen by 290 (a drop of 1%).