Healthcare leaders understand baby boomers are getting older and nearing retirement, at the same time millennials have and are entering the work environment with a different set of expectations
When I became a registered nurse in the spring of 1997, I was simply happy to pass my boards and land a specialty job at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital in New Brunswick, NJ. There was not a lot of incentive programs to attract nurses to the local healthcare systems.However, now with the advent of the nursing shortage becoming severe in many parts of our country, executive leaders are working to develop strategies and programs to recruit and retain nurses to their healthcare system. The initiatives include a wide range of programs such as tuition reimbursement, loan repayment programs and increased salaries. I have also seen hospitals offer a new car sign-on bonus to incentivize nurses! All these are great enticements to catch the eye of potential clinicians, however what about retaining them when the real work starts? The retention programs may include hiring additional Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) to ease the workload for nursing staff. But, hiring CNA’s is not enough to help system-wide communication issues leading to clinical burnout.
Healthcare leaders understand baby boomers are getting older and nearing retirement, at the same time millennials have and are entering the work environment with a different set of expectations. When I talk with my nephews and nieces (who are the quintessential millennials) and ask what they want from their job/employers, the resounding answers are that they want a job with purpose and they expect their employers to engage them. They are not just in it for the money. Therefore, healthcare is faced with the challenge of attracting and maintaining not just clinicians, but ‘Millennial-Clinicians’. Millennials have a dynamic communication style with an affinity to texting. The top reasons why millennials prefer texting is the speed and convenience that texting offers. Not only are nurses texting each other, residents and physicians tend to be more responsive to the immediacy of texting as well. The problem with SMS texting is that it is unsecured and a potential HIPAA violation.
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