For Healthcare Workers, It's Not (Just) About Money

There are two kinds of surveys: Those that surprise you and tell you what you didn't know, and those that reaffirm what you already knew. Both have their value.

A survey of healthcare workers by Chicago-based recruiters CareerBuilder definitely falls into the second category and confirms what we already know. Namely, that healthcare workers –- like everyone else –- expect to earn a decent living for their labor. Salary and benefits are not, however, what attracted them to healthcare as a career choice, and they're not what make them happy. Remember that in this era of chronic staff shortages and turnover, and aggressive organized labor campaigns.

"Although salary and benefits are important, lower-cost factors, such as mentoring, career-path planning, training and support also greatly influence healthcare employees to apply to and stay at a job," Sanja Licina, senior director of Talent Intelligence at CareerBuilder, said in media release announcing the survey. "With healthcare organizations battling for top talent and facing high demand for positions, it's important for employers to take the temperature of their staff to best meet their needs, as well as keep a finger on the pulse of job seekers."

The survey -- Health Care Workers Reveal Workplace Challenges and Factors That Influence Turnover –- of 1,104 healthcare workers and 310 healthcare employers involved in hiring decisions was compiled between May 1 and June 30, 2010.

• Of healthcare workers who responded 51% said that a lack of advancement opportunities was the top challenge they faced, and 40% cited work overload as their biggest challenge. 
• Nurses are more concerned with a good environment than with the amount of money they make. Nurses, the hardest providers to recruit and retain, ranked salary fifth (35%) on their list of biggest workplace challenges. Topping their list was insufficient staff (49%) and a lack of advancement opportunities (49%).
• Tenure rates for nurses are low across different healthcare organizations. Analysis of CareerBuilder databases revealed that registered nurses have a median tenure of 1.4 years. Physicians' offices see the lowest nurse turnover, with median job tenure of 1.57 years, while nursing care facilities have the highest at .97 years. Falling in the middle were kidney dialysis centers (1.23) and home healthcare services (1.17).
• A wide disconnect exists between benefits offered by employers and what employees say their organizations provide. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said that in-house skills trainings were offered by their employer, however, 68% of healthcare employers said they provided the perk. Licina said this disconnect shows that while healthcare organizations may be offering valuable perks, they are not communicated effectively to employees.
• Patient-to-staff ratios are strained, leaving workers spread thin with little time for career development. Fifty-seven percent of healthcare workers said that patient-to-staff ratio is worsening, allowing less time for professional development and career advancement and requiring more time on day-to-day duties.

Outside of a few specifics, such as the alarmingly short length of nurse tenure, there is nothing in the survey that leaps out as a surprise. Spend a few minutes talking to nurses and they'll say as much.

Still, it's troubling to see that even as healthcare workers offer specific, actionable workplace grievances, management either isn't acting on the complaints, or isn't communicating how it is addressing the complaints.

In some ways, these survey results are good news for cash-strapped hospitals. Healthcare workers say quite clearly that it isn't just about money. That's believable. They put patient care and workplace conditions and professional development above compensation. There aren't too many industries that can make that boast about their workforce.

What the survey is really saying is that healthcare workers are not apathetic. They want to do a good job, and they're probably willing to buy into your mission, if you pay attention to their fairly reasonable concerns.