Our Annual Industry Survey: The Challenge to Collaborate

Despite the industry's enormous challenges and demands, bright and dedicated people continue to devote their careers to healing and helping, and 81% of the survey respondents say that, overall, they are satisfied or very satisfied in their job.

Clearly, individuals should feel positive about the work that they do, but they also need to feel good about their profession. The survey suggests considerable room for improvement in the area of collaboration. Given the complexity of clinical care and diversity of business interests, achieving that cohesion will not be easy—but no one enters healthcare because it's easy.

As one nurse leader puts it: "We will only fix this when we stop blaming and decide to collaborate as a system." What no one knows is whether industry leadership will come together and address these challenges before, as one senior leader ominously puts it, "We must hit bottom first."

This article appears in the February 2012 issue of HealthLeaders magazine.