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The Health of Local Health Care:
Enough Heart to Work in Health Care?
By Spencer Vaden
CVHC Recruitment Coordinator
Your health care, and that of your children, your parents, and your neighbors, is directly affected by a national shortage. There are just not enough health care workers. Health care professionals experience the staffing crisis directly and personally. Everyday, it reduces the quality of their work lives and ability to deliver quality health care. The problem is not limited to certain facilities, professions, or regions.
Washington State continues to face severe shortages of health care personnel. The Employment Security Department's May 2004 job vacancy survey reported 6,548 vacancies in the heath care industry with 3,318 vacancies in registered nursing positions alone. Nationally, by 2010 1.3 million new health care workers will be needed.
Solving the shortage is much more difficult then snapping our fingers and all will be well. We are faced with several issues:
- Most health care occupations require some degree, license, registration, or certification.
- Schools do not have the capacity or the resources to train as many students as needed.
- Many people in our communities are not even aware of the problem or its potential consequences.
Snohomish County has formed a collaborative partnership with local hospitals and clinics, colleges, school districts, the military, and others to help find solutions to the problem.
This is not just a shortage of Doctors and Nurses. It is about Respiratory Therapy, Radiology, Laboratory, Pharmacy, and more. But health care workers cannot be hired fresh off the street and expected to start an IV. Most positions require at least a two-year degree and a state license.
Technical and community colleges are expanding their class size to help ease the capacity issue. This still doesn't meet the need for trained health care professionals. For example, Everett Community College, the largest health care training program in Snohomish County, recently nearly doubled their Nursing Program. However, they still have over 200 students waiting to get into the program. Some schools have developed partnerships to start training programs. Bellingham Technical and Everett Community have done an excellent job of partnering to create a Radiology Technology program.
One of the main reasons the workforce shortage will continue for many years is far fewer young people are making health care as their career choice. A few decades ago the top two career choices for young women going to college were teaching or nursing. Likewise for young men, choosing to be a doctor always meant a high income and prestige. Today there are many more well paying career choices, and working in a field often requiring availability 24/7 does not get placed at the top of the list. But for those young people who want to make a difference in other people's lives and have a career they can be proud of, health care is an excellent choice. Parents and educators need to encourage children to look past some of the drawbacks of this career choice. It is best to introduce this option at an early age. Fifty percent of the current health care workforce considered going into health care before high school graduation. Most of them said their main reason was a desire to help people.
Do you think you, or your child, have enough heart to work in Health Care? Have you thought of this career choice? Do you want a work environment that makes you feel proud about what you do? Do you like helping people? If you answer YES, then you should look into a career in health care. If you would like more information about health care occupations and schools for those careers, then please visit: www.washingtonhealthcarecareers.com or www.worksourceonline.com. If you would like to see the job opportunities available in your own community, visit us at: www.cascadevalley.org. You can also contact me at 360-435-2133, ext. 4719 or email at spencerv@cascadevalley.org.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for educational purposes only. It should not replace a visit with your health care professional. Call your doctor if you need more information or have additional questions.