Many health care organizations have employee retention issues

Oct 16 2006

Sixty-nine percent of health care organizations report having moderate to great trouble retaining employees with critical skills, compared with 43% of organizations across all industries, according to a report released last Wednesday by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, the AP/Arizona Republic reports.

Jamie Hale of Watson Wyatt said the high-stress environment in hospitals explains why some workers choose to leave.

Chronic shortages of nurses and physical therapists needed at hospitals and clinics exacerbate employee retention problems, Hale added.

Health care workers almost always have job opportunities elsewhere.

For example, a pharmacist could work at a retailer instead of a hospital and a nurse could work for a health insurer.

In addition, the report -- which is based on survey responses from 110 health organizations -- finds that 42% of health care organizations offer total reward strategies, such as retirement plans and vacations, compared with 70% of other industries.

Hale said that instead of simply raising salaries to quickly fill positions, employers in the health care industry should consider adding more perks to help improve retention, the AP/Republic reports (Agovino, AP/Arizona Republic, 10/12).

A summary of the survey is available online.