Perfect Labor Storm 2.0

Firing Staff Fuels Managerial Stress

Hiring and firing staff comes with the territory but new research by Alexander Hughes Interim Management reveals that a third of managers feel stressed and worried as a result of restructuring and downsizings.  More than 60 percent of senior managers have had to make staff reductions despite having no training or experience in this area.

Four in 10 felt that their health and family life had suffered.

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Shortage of allied health training programs perils staffing

One specific trend noted in health care is the decrease in allied health training programs. A study done in 2004 by the American Medical Association, FutureScan, revealed a 60 percent fall-off since 1985 in clinical laboratory programs, a 30 percent drop in nuclear medicine therapy programs, a 21 percent reduction in students in radiographer programs, and a whopping 67 percent drop in respiratory therapy programs. Such trends indicate that if we don’t work to remedy the problem of fewer training programs, health care providers will find themselves without staff. This predicament will only be exacerbated by the baby boomers, a generation that has begun to retire from the health care professions. 

Source: Health Matters, Bernard Hodes, January 2006

Quest for Good Night's Sleep Pains Housekeepers

The quest for hotel chains to one-up one another in their quest to provide guests with a good night's sleep is bad news for many housekeepers. The problem is that housekeepers are being forced to clean the same number of rooms per shift even as the beds grow bigger and the more elaborate pillows, comforters and bolsters require more time to change.  Housekeepers are hurting themselves keeping up. 

Most housekeepers must clean 26 beds per shift, each having 5 to 7 pillows, a duvet and an assortment of other accessories.  Each bed takes 14 to 15 minutes leaving just 15 or 16 minutes to vacuum, dust, mop, clean, scrub, and replace linens and toiletries..

Across the country in 2004, housekeepers and maids suffered 17,980 injuries that led to days missed from work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

The High Cost of Retaining Older Workers

Retaining older workers longer comes at a cost most employers are unprepared to bear.  In addition to knowledge and experience, aging employees bring chronic diseases and its inherent short-term and long-term disabilities to the workplace.

The top five chronic causes of workplace short-term and long-term disability are arthritis, lower back disorders, depression, coronary heart disease, and pulmonary diseases. Each year in the U.S., these illnesses account for nearly 30% of all long-term disability claims, and their economic burden is estimated to be hundreds of billions of dollars in employee absences, diminished productivity, and increased health care costs.

These more widely recognized diseases influence productivity and disability but so do unrecognized and under-treated chronic conditions associated with aging, such as visual and mental impairment, incontinence, and physical immobility.

Still, most people under age 65 with chronic conditions are working. The percent of the 45- to 64-year-old population with these chronic conditions who are still in the workforce include 62% with hearing impairments, 61% with orthopedic impairments, 59% with hypertension, 53% with arthritis, and 51% with heart disease.

Arthritis

In the U.S., arthritis is the leading cause of lost workdays, and some 60% of persons older than age 65 years have at least some symptoms of the disease. Arthritis and other major musculoskeletal conditions represent 54% of all long-term disability and 24% of all restricted activity days in a Canadian study. Costs of more than $60 billion a year in lost productivity -more often from reduced job performance than absenteeism-are estimated for workers in the U.S. with back pain, arthritis, and other muscle and joint pain.

Depression

Depression is responsible for about 15% of the global disease burden and is an important cause of disability, impaired work performance, and reduced quality of life. It may be even more disabling in the workforce than common chronic physical disorders

Recent research found that the absenteeism rate in untreated patients was 70.2%, whereas the rate was 39.8% for those who were treated.

COPD

More than 58 million annual lost workdays in the U.S. alone come from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of lung disorders that impair breathing. Among individuals over 40 years of age, COPD ranks second only to coronary disease as a cause of disability. Smoking is one of the causes of COPD, and lung function gradually deteriorates if smoking is continued.

Alzheimer's Disease

Because symptoms precede diagnosis by several years, early cognitive impairment leading to Alzheimer's disease will affect some older workers. Further, since the prevalence of AD doubles every 5 years beyond age 65, the rapid growth of the oldest old population is expected to add significantly to the burden.

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32,617 qualified nursing applicants turned away

universities denied 32,617 qualified applications due primarily to a shortage of nurse educators. AACN is very concerned about the increasing number of qualified students being turned away from nursing programs each year since the federal government is projecting a shortfall of 800,000 registered nurses (RNs) by the year 2020.

According to an article published in the March/April 2002 issue of Nursing Outlook titled The Shortage of Doctorally Prepared Nursing Faculty: A Dire Situation, the average age of nurse faculty at retirement is 62.5 years. With the average age of doctorally-prepared faculty currently 53.5 years, a wave of retirements is expected within the next ten years. In fact, the authors project that between 200 and 300 doctorally-prepared faculty will be eligible for retirement each year from 2003 through 2012, and between 220-280 master's- prepared nurse faculty will be eligible for retirement between 2012 and 2018.

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