The proliferation of the Delta variation is prolonging the healthcare staff crisis, straining hospital profitability, and increasing burnout rates, according to a Moody’s Investor Service assessment.
Insufficient staffing in some US regions has extended to nonclinical professionals such as nutrition and environmental services staff. Hospitals have halted elective nocturnal procedures.
The survey anticipates that the scarcity of hospital personnel would continue into next year, affecting recruiting and retention. This will further reduce profit margins.
As a result of the epidemic, more contract workers will be needed, driving up wages. Salary and benefit growth has outpaced hospital spending growth in 2021 and is expected to continue into 2022.
Moody’s recognized recent increases in nursing school enrolment as a sign of a more healthy long-term staffing pipeline.
However, an aging population and healthcare personnel that may be retiring or resigning due to fatigue pose long-term staffing issues.
As the population ages, a critical societal danger, and service demand rises, labor competition is expected to persist even after the epidemic. “Even if the near-term shortage is contained, the aging US population will continue to put a strain on the supply of nurses and laborers.”
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT?
Health care personnel shortages have long been a concern due to the aging population of the United States, but COVID-19 has exacerbated the problem.
A physician shortfall of up to 144,000 doctors by 2030, as well as a scarcity of home health aides, nurse practitioners, and medical lab technicians, had been forecast even before the pandemic.
According to a recent study by PINC AI, hospitals and health institutions across the country are spending $24 billion more per year for competent clinical labor than they were before the epidemic.
THE LARGER TREND
This complicated aspect has compounded workforce shortage issues, according to recent data from the American Nurses Association. In a letter to HHS in September, the ANA cited overburdened health systems and burnt-out nurses as reasons for the persistent nursing shortage.
The IOM Committee on the Adequacy of Nurse Staffing in Hospitals and Nursing Homes showed nurse weariness affects not only operational costs but also patient and employee satisfaction.
Other research from the same period had reached the same conclusion.
