60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley addresses workforce challenges at HIMSS22

60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, right, and a panel of healthcare experts addressed workforce challenges at HIMSS22 on Tuesday. Panelists included, from left, Johnny Taylor, Diane Swonk and Dr. Tamara Sunbul.

Photo: Susan Morse/HFN

ORLANDO - 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley asked a panel of healthcare workforce professionals during HIMSS22 on Tuesday about what needs to be done to turn around resignations and burnout.

Eight percent of healthcare jobs are vacant, Pelley said, his strong and familiar baritone instantly recognizable. Sixty-six percent of nurses have said they felt like quitting.

"'Work in healthcare has now become a job. It used to be a calling," Pelley said, quoting what has already been said about staff members who have given beyond their capacity.

Having the boss bring in some hot sandwiches during a busy night shift would help, said Dr. Tamara Sunbul, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, medical director of Clinical Informatics. 

"How much that would resonate as well as a regular bonus," Sunbul said. "People want to be cared for, feel like they're part of a family." Front-line workers live in a culture that honors "resilience," she said. They need recognition and empathy, as well as money and the ability to talk to a mental health expert. 

"I've been through this before," Sunbul said. While she was pregnant and overdue, she still had a full clinic. When her ObGyn told her she needed to be admitted right away, she told her boss, who voiced incredulity that she was going to leave her patient list, she said.

"We don't take care of ourselves," she said.

PTSD and mental health is stigmatized, even in healthcare, said Johnny Taylor, president and CEO for the Society for Human Resource Management. 

"We have a mental health crisis in this country," said Diane Swonk, chief economist and managing director, Grant Thornton. 

The Great Resignation has hit the entire country but healthcare is one of the few areas in which people are opting out entirely, Swonk said.

Pelley, an award-winning 60 Minutes correspondent and the author of "Truth Worth Telling," moderated the keynote session "Preparing for the 2022 and Beyond Workforce," with panelists Sunbul, Swonk and Taylor.

WHAT'S NEEDED

Money matters to candidates and employees, Taylor said, but right behind that is purpose. Managers need to listen, and not many are trained to listen empathetically.

"Train your people managers better," Taylor said. "People don't quit their jobs, they quit their managers."

Swonk agreed, saying a survey has shown that the number one stressor in people's jobs is a bad manager. Ninety percent of Generation Z and millennials have said they would leave their employers if he or she is not empathic, Taylor said. 

A remote workforce, which is on track to remain past the pandemic, has made creating a work culture of community even more challenging. New hires may be coming aboard who have never been to the office or met colleagues in person.

Five generations are now in the workforce, and they must not be lumped together, according to Taylor. For instance, Generation Z will job hop, he said.

"They think if they've given you a year you're lucky," he said. "When you're working with people with that mindset, you're changing the entire paradigm."

While inflation and prices climb, younger workers especially are looking for support financially in paying their student loans or even with rent, he said. They have the stress of not being able to service their debt.

Looking to the future, more people are enrolling to become physicians, nurses and other professionals. But lower birth rates and disruptions in education for students in K-12 due to COVID-19 may mean students are not gaining the skills they need for college, Taylor said.

"We're going to see a war for talent like nothing we've never seen," he said. 

Healthcare employers need to modify who is qualified to work. Instead of always looking to the recent graduates, the older generation is ready and willing to fill open positions.

Swonk said immigrants are also ready to work.

"Open our arms. We've got refugees out there," she said to applause.

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org