The Big Story: What’s the fallout as NYC nurses return to work after month-long strike?
Issues addressed included hiring nurses where they’re needed most, expanding weapons detection systems, creating guardrails around the use of AI and more.
Getting back on the same side
By Tim Stewart and David Shifrin
The high-profile nursing strikes in New York City reflect an escalation in nurse dissatisfaction across the country, as walkouts rise amid familiar issues like pay and staffing. But if the issues are familiar and consistent and longstanding at the top of union demand lists, why are more nurses individually and collectively reaching a breaking point?
What’s changed over the last five years is the increased prominence of other issues piling on top of the old stalwarts. And they drive to the heart of whether a new generation will view healthcare as a career worth pursuing:
- Increased patient violence post-COVID
- Burnout continuing to manifest long after the attention economy moved on from the buzzword, with patient loads and acuity rising without an increase in resources
- Leader and executive turnover creating vacuums and undermining the mission-orientation of teams
We talked about how the fictional hospital of television’s The Pitt mirrors reality last year, but the new season has deepened our understanding of the world healthcare providers inhabit and the challenges they face. One recurring theme of the show is the battle these caregivers are constantly waging to maintain empathy and deliver for patients while navigating a range of barriers – from patient violence to hospital policy to the weight of moving to paper charting in an emergency.
We see this tension on TV and in real life and ask why anyone would want these jobs. Yet we also know this is an industry in desperate need of people who do, in fact, want to work in it.
Because for better or worse, healthcare is driving the job market, even as most of what we hear from healthcare workers is, frankly, pretty negative. And no matter what the AI hype cycle suggests, the demand for healthcare workers will grow, thanks to an aging population, the simple need for human connection during hard times, the creative critical thinking only highly skilled and mission-oriented individuals can provide. And, yes, the need to staff newly defined spaces driven by tech implementation.
So then the core question for organizations and industry leaders is: How do we make these jobs attractive, grow employee satisfaction and continue providing the care our communities need? Being called by mission isn’t enough, particularly for a younger generation forged in cynicism about their ability to produce meaningful change.
In short, be an advocate…for the issues your people care about. They’re being asked to give more and more. They need to see and feel something given back in return. Rather than an adversarial argument, help your nurses and other healthcare workers feel their value by seeing you do the following…for them:
- Drive the conversation on stiffer penalties for people who harm healthcare workers.
- Build and deploy user-friendly, easy-to-access platforms for employee input, and show your work on how their voices drive change.
- Invest in turning titled leaders into real leaders, knowing that how your frontline providers experience the organization is through their day-to-day experience with their leader.
- Create meaningful resources to address burnout. (Looking for actionable and measurable ideas? Start here.)
- Build a culture that engages every day and communicates accordingly. Don’t just show up when the collective bargaining agreement is expiring, but bring the attention and focus on workforce issues long before the sword of a strike is dangling overhead.
- Integrate AI and other technological advances in a way that emphasizes the human in the loop, and the opportunities these initiatives have to relieve human burdens rather than replacing humans.
Working in healthcare is far more than a steady paycheck. Those who are driven to serve are looking for a reason to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Industry leaders need to work harder to be on the side of the workforce, and be seen removing barriers rather than constructing them.
Contributor: Emme Nelson Baxter
Image Credit: Shannon Threadgill
