COVID-19 fears and frustration add to recruiting challenges for hospitals

The new chief physician executive of the Mercy health system’s Mercy Clinic says it is essential in his new role to serve as an effective intermediary between clinicians and the health system.

Jeff Ciaramita, MD, was promoted to senior vice president and chief physician executive of Mercy Clinic in October. Mercy Clinic is a large medical group with more than 4,000 providers. The Mercy health system is based in Chesterfield, Missouri, and operates more than 40 hospitals in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

For the past several months, the federal government has tried a variety of measures aimed at helping workers and families cope during the pandemic. But government measures apparently aren’t going far enough in the healthcare sector, where thousands of nurses have reportedly left the profession due to fears and concerns around the pandemic.

If accurate, this trend could be crippling to not only the industry, but the nation’s well-being. One obvious solution is to fill the pipeline with more nurses—lots of them—as quickly as possible. A second solution would be to convince thousands of frightened and frustrated healthcare workers to stay the course. But there are several factors working against that goal, says one hospital executive.

In 2019, the estimated costs associated with maternal morbidity for U.S. births from conception through the child’s firth birthday were $32.3 billion, a new study found.

The United States is experiencing a maternal health crisis. In 2019, the United States lagged other developed countries in maternal mortality ratio, with 20 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

The new study, which was published by The Commonwealth Fund, examined the medical and nonmedical costs associated with nine maternal morbidities: amniotic fluid embolism, cardiac arrest, gestational diabetes mellitus, hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, maternal mental health conditions, renal disease, sepsis, and venous thromboembolism.

In asking for tips for first-time accreditation managers, Inside Accreditation & Quality also asked consultants and accreditation executives what online sources they recommend.

The list ranges from CMS policy memos and compliance updates to the online resources and electronic publications found on the public or private websites set up by accreditation organizations and many of the consultants interviewed for these articles.

Healthcare and social assistance workers are five times more likely to be injured or require time off work because of WPV, according to OSHA. The Joint Commission reports that 73% of nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses causing days of missed work in healthcare are connected to WPV. The added stress of being verbally or physically assaulted at the workplace has contributed to mental health issues and high turnover rates among healthcare workers.

This fact alone should be enough to encourage healthcare leadership to take action to protect staff. But if it isn’t, leadership should consider that WPV also impacts patient safety and outcomes—as well as the organization’s bottom line.