1. Nurses are in extremely high demand

According to LinkedIn, RNs, licensed practical nurses, and certified nursing assistants were the healthcare positions with the most job postings on the website during the first quarter of the year. There has also been a high demand for care coordinators and patient access representatives.

Going forward, nurses are likely to continue to be in high demand, especially since there is expected to be a shortage of 195,400 nurses by 2031. Nursing home and rural medical centers are also already struggling to recruit nurses.

2. Workplace environment and culture are highly important

In a recent LinkedIn survey, respondents said they are more likely to prioritize employers that are diverse and inclusive, have supportive managers, and provide flexible scheduling. Employers that offer professional development opportunities and have shared governance models have also been more successful in recruiting clinicians.

3. Benefit offerings have not changed much

In previous years, health systems have offered bigger bonuses and continuing education funds to recruit workers.

However, a report from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) found that only 21% of medical group leaders reported any expansion or improvement to their benefit offerings in 2023. In addition, over a third of leaders said their recruitment efforts have been less successful in the past year, resulting in fewer hires overall.

4. Frontline healthcare workers are wary of using AI for staffing issues

Currently, more health systems are experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies to help nurses with patient monitoring, documentation, and other administrative tasks. In a May survey by Incredible Health, almost 80% of healthcare executives said they believe AI will help their organizations, and half said they use AI to boost operational efficiency.

However, nurses have been more wary about using AI and have raised concerns about how the technology will affect patient safety and job security. In a recent survey from the National Nurses Union, 60% of nurses said they don't trust their employer to consider patient safety as the most important factor when implementing AI tools.

So far, nurses' unions have asked health systems to include contract language that establishes guardrails for AI use and to be included in decision-making processes about the technology.

5. State staffing laws have not helped improve nurse-to-patient ratios

According to Devereaux, staffing ratio mandates in Oregon, California, Massachusetts, and New York have done little to improve staffing levels at hospitals.

Although state health departments have threatened hospitals with penalties, only a few facilities have received fines for violating minimum staffing requirements. Some advocates believe that CMS' federal nursing home mandate, which will go into effect in August, will also struggle to hold facilities accountable.

6. Health systems can't rely on international nurse recruitment

Several advocacy organizations, including the American Association of International Healthcare Recruitment, believe that international nurses are essential to safe staffing. According to data from KFF, around one in six nurses was an immigrant in 2022.

However, the United States' visa backlog has been growing since May 2023. And in June, the federal government paused its processing of new visa applications until fiscal year 2025. This backlog means that international nurses will likely have to wait twice as long as before to receive a visa.

7. Health systems are increasing compensation for most positions

Health systems have been offering higher pay than their competitors to attract physicians, executives, and other workers.

According to MGMA data, median total compensation for all clinical and nursing roles, except for RNs, grew in 2023 compared to 2022. In 2023, RNs had a 3% decrease in compensation. Travel nurses also saw lower pay in 2023 as hospitals' interest in temporary workers declined.

Advisory Board's workforce resources

For more insight into workforce issues, check out these Advisory Board resources:

This expert insight describes five ongoing challenges of the workforce crisis, as well as what leaders can do to address them. Similarly, this expert commentary explains how workforce challenges continue to be a top issue for executives and offers four steps on how to mitigate them.

We also ran a survey of nursing leaders, combined with additional research and external literature, to develop recommendations on how to stabilize the nursing workforce. This Daily Briefing article, which includes expert commentary, also outlines three ways to successfully reduce clinician turnover.

You can also read our take on how technology can help solve the workforce crisis by reducing burnout, turnover, and understaffing — and ultimately leading to long-term sustainability. In addition, this expert insight aimed at vendors offers three strategies on how to engage providers tackling a workforce crisis.

Finally, Advisory Board is hosting the "Pivots for a Sustainable Future Summit" on Sept. 10–11 in Phoenix, AZ. The summit will provide valuable insight into the broader healthcare landscape and allow leaders to be the voice of nursing industry-wide (Devereaux, Modern Healthcare, 7/24)