M.D. and Nursing Shortage Confirmed

Is there a shortage of physicians and nurses in the United States? A majority of hospital executives believe there is. According to a survey by AMN Healthcare, reported by Zack Budryk, writing for FierceHealthcare, 78% of hospital executives believe there is a physician shortage, 66% believe there is a shortage of nurses and 50% say there is a shortage of advanced practitioners.

If the survey is correct, the vacancy rate for doctors in hospitals is about 18%, up from 10.7% in 2009. The vacancy rate for nurses is 17%—up from a low of 5.5% in 2009.

“Change in healthcare is a continuous evolution, but the one constant is people, ” AMN President and Chief Executive Officer Susan Salka said in a statement. “No matter what models of care are in place, it takes physicians, nurses and other clinicians to provide quality patient care, and the fact is we simply do not have enough of them.”

Salka indicated that the present concern over vacancy rates and emphasis on clinical staffing is due to the slowly improving economy, an aging work force, increased demand for medical services and the results of healthcare reform.

“We are expanding access to healthcare and restructuring the delivery system to improve quality and reduce costs at the precise moment when a wave of physicians and nurses is set to retire, ” she told FierceHealthCare “It will take new, collaborative and innovative staffing models to ensure our workforce is aligned with the goals we all want to reach.” She believes that an increase in patients, who will be covered under the Medicaid expansion, will probably exacerbate the physician and nurse shortage.