A Second Type of Nursing Shortage is Emerging
Ron Hoppe • November 20, 2024
U.S. healthcare providers are very well aware of the pernicious shortage of RNs that has existed in varying degrees for decades. Today, the U.S. is graduating more RNs that ever before and yet the nursing headcount shortage lingers and, in some locations, getting worse. The reasons for this shortage are well documented across a wide body of academic research – essentially what employers are dealing with is a supply & demand imbalance in the workforce in that systemically there are more open positions than there are qualified applicants to fill them.
More recently a second type of nursing shortage is emerging that is proving to be as difficult or more difficult than the headcount shortage. This shortage relates to the growing shortage of experience.
As the number of new graduates has increased at the same time as the number of experienced RNs are leaving the workforce for various reasons, healthcare providers are seeing their RN workforce become increasingly novice. Noted workforce researcher Dr. Peter Buerhaus refers to this phenomenon as the ‘Experience – Complexity Gap’. Dr. Buerhaus’ research concluded that the US RN workforce force is losing about 2-million-person years of experience annually. This research concludes that by 2030 the U.S. RN workforce will have 20-million-person years of experience less than in 202. This is the direct result of experienced nurses being increasingly being replaced by those very much at the front end of their careers. Employers are having to provide more complex care with an increasingly novice workforce resulting in an Experience – Complexity gap. The good news is that there is a strategy that U.S. employers can implement now that will combat both types of the nursing shortage.
DIRECT HIRE international recruitment is not only a well-established plan for adding headcount, international RNs arrive with an average of 5-10 years of nursing experience in countries around the world.
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‘How long will it take?’ is the most common question that employers contemplating international recruitment ask. ‘How long will it take?’ is also the top of mind question asked by applicants. The honest answer is ‘it depends.’ The U.S. employment based permanent residency program is the visa category in which the vast majority of RN applications are filed. There is an annual quota of these types of visas that are available for issuance each year. When the number of visas available in a current fiscal year is greater than the number of visa applications filed for processing, visas can be issued as quickly as 9-12 months. However, when the number of visa applications filed exceeds the number of visas available in the current fiscal period, processing times become extended. The industry term used to describe this condition is Retrogression. When the annual quota has been reached, those with remaining visa applications wait for their visas to be issued until the next government fiscal period when a new annual allotment of visas is made available. It is also very important to note that there is never a limit on filing new visa applications regardless of the number of visa applications currently pending being less or more than the number of available visas in a current fiscal period. While the answer to how long the visa process will take is ‘it depends’ that are a number of known factors that help to inform this question: Significant creditable research confirms the current nursing shortage is not going away in the next decade (at least), The U.S. employment-based immigration program is very well established with a virtual certainty of properly filed applications resulting in visa issuance, Visa applications are processed on a ‘First In – First Out’ basis. This means the sooner an application is filed, the sooner a visa is likely to be issued. So if your staffing priorities include increasing your core staff, reducing overtime, incentive payments or contract labor, DIRECT HIRE international recruitment provides an excellent opportunity to achieve all of your goals while achieving substantial cost savings. Your international candidates may arrive in 12, 18 or maybe even 24 months, but they will be needed and the years of experience they will bring will strongly support patient satisfaction, length of stay and other core metrics. And the best way of ensuring that these new international team mates are able to join your organization in the shortest possible time is partner with WorldWide HealthStaff Solutions and initiate the filing of visa applications for the international candidates you select at the earliest possible date.