We are all having conversations about the shortage of healthcare professionals. What to do?
Some professions are showing upticks in student registrations for studying healthcare. Others not so much. Healthcare is generally a 24/7 career. Many high school graduates grew up in a different culture than the requirements to provide personal care services to patients. Generation Z prioritizes dignity, flexibility, and life/work balance. They push for shorter work weeks, remote/hybrid work, high levels of autonomy, and strong labor union support. This may be the result of “helicopter parenting” which has produced some parents accompanying their children to their job interview. Parents accompanying children, even after college graduation, to job interviews were quoted to be 20% according to a recent survey of employers (2023).
Generally speaking, a person under the age of 18 would not be able to gain employment in a healthcare facility. This could change dramatically in the future if degrees or certifications were earned in the late teens or early 20’s. Over the summer, a 16-year-old Arizona State University graduate made headlines when she earned her BSN. She may be the youngest nurse in America as she earned her high school diploma in 1.5 years, and she doubled up on her college coursework. She completed a 16-month accelerated BSN program.
Healthcare leadership seems to think the answer is to create interest in health careers by training younger generations. This means getting in front of high schoolers and middle schoolers. Minors 16 years of age or older may work according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Minors aged 16 and 17 may not perform work deemed too hazardous for them. Even though healthcare facilities are subject to compliance under the FLSA, there is no list of hazardous work and the healthcare areas most affected by noncompliance are in the food service and housekeeping jobs.
There are high schools that have already implemented coursework for nursing aids, phlebotomists, medical assistants, and EMT’s. These courses have didactic, labs, and clinical experience. If a certification is offered upon completion of the courses, they may sit for examination while still in high school. This pathway may also offer students enrollment in medical terminology and observation or “shadowing” of different departments to educate them on the functions of the different departments.
On January 17, 2024, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched a first-of-its-kind healthcare-focused high school program in 10 urban and rural communities across the country. This initiative funded for $250 million gives monies to healthcare facilities and high schools for cooperative programs. The purpose of the programs is to graduate students directly into high demand healthcare jobs with family sustaining wages. The programs may be different dependent upon geographic location. The programs will collectively serve nearly 6,000 students at full capacity. Some training programs targeted in their press release are surgical technicians, radiologic technicians, and respiratory therapists. The high schools will be renovated to provide the space for training and the healthcare facilities have pledged to provide faculty for instruction.
The press release stated that “starting in the eleventh grade, students will have access to paid healthcare internships and professional mentoring, among other work-based learning experiences.”
Should we be concerned that individuals in their late teens or early 20’s are ready to wrestle with the emotional toll that comes with working with patients? Do they have emotional maturity? Have they learned what is acceptable language and behavior to treat our patients? Certainly, age is not the only determinant of emotional maturity, but experience happens with aging. Healthcare is difficult and patient and family behaviors demonstrate that vigilance for staff safety must be a primary focus of our facilities. Integrating younger workers may be accompanied by a host of issues that increase complaints and place patients and staff at risk.
It appears that the great experiment is already underway and may be coming to a region near you. It will take several years to assess the results of this experiment and it may become so entrenched that it cannot be corrected. We will be watching.
