New Orleans, La.-based Ochsner Health is not immune to the workforce shortage, but has created its own approach to triage the issue, according to the American Medical Association.
State officials anticipate a shortage of 6,000 nurses by 2030, according to the Louisiana Board of Regents.
Here are three other notes from the health system's staffing shortage triage plan:
- In 2022, Ochsner Health spent $5 million across 29 workforce programs that involved more than 1,200 participants. While the programs vary, they focus on a few key aspects related to the workforce: recruiting and retaining nurses, identifying opportunities to engage with high school and college students who may wish to pursue healthcare, and allowing current clinicians to move up in their careers.
- The Louisiana health system is focused on finding both community and global partners to work alongside to address large-scale healthcare issues like the ongoing staffing shortage. It partners with local health groups and universities, some as far away as Australia, allowing students at University of Queensland and from Louisiana State University to split their time learning clinical skills abroad and in the U.S.
- Ochsner also collaborates with other local institutions like Xavier University of Louisiana to address diversity issues and works to recruit and retain clinicians from underrepresented backgrounds with a particular focus on providing opportunities and support for students from these backgrounds to pursue careers in healthcare.
By investing in its current workforce and partnering with local universities and organizations to create more opportunities for others to move into the field, Ochsner executives say this approach may help address the workforce shortage both in the interim and build a pipeline for the future.