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THA Focuses on Recruitment, Retention and Staffing Innovation with Workforce Development Initiative

The Tennessee Hospital Association’s first priority is to support hospitals across the state in the vital work they do to serve their local communities. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and their dedicated employees have been at the front lines caring for Tennesseans. They have remained steadfast in their commitment to their communities. In the early days of COVID, they continued to provide care even though there were a variety of unknowns about the deadly novel virus. While at the same time, they were experiencing a nationwide PPE shortage, throughout several surges that strained hospital capacity. Most recently, the highly-transmissible Omicron strain further taxed capacity because many hospital workers were out sick.

Now our hospitals are facing a new challenge. Like many industries, healthcare is facing a workforce shortage and THA hospitals have expressed this issue as their number one concern. To support hospitals, THA has embarked on an ambitious initiative relative to workforce priorities, with focus on three primary areas – recruitment, retention and innovative staffing models. The recruitment effort centers on increasing the supply of future healthcare workers. Retention will address the problem of burnout in the workplace. Innovative staffing models are designed to improve efficiencies and job satisfaction.

Recruitment of new talent to the healthcare pipeline through marketing and student outreach has led THA to partner in surveying Tennesseans ages 16 to 22 to understand what they perceive as benefits of and barriers to working in hospitals and healthcare. Survey results will help create a recruitment campaign, including key messaging and engagement tactics. THA created a website as a resource for students considering a career in hospitals and healthcare. The association will share research findings and analysis with member hospital communications teams and create toolkits they can use to produce tailored messaging and recruitment materials.

Retention has been challenged and exacerbated by workplace stress brought on by the pandemic. THA is working to provide education and support related to healthcare worker burnout and addressing employee well-being and resilience. Well-respected experts on this topic were featured at THA’s 2022 Summer Conference held in June and will also be included as part of the upcoming Annual Meeting in September.

The association will also offer hospital staff a five-month webinar series beginning in August on the use of mindfulness and meditation practices to improve overall well-being. Resources on the THA website are updated continually, and the association is compiling and sharing successful strategies from member hospitals and health systems.

Innovative Staffing Models were the motivation for THA in hiring a design innovation firm to conduct workshops to identify fresh approaches to staffing challenges. Through sponsorship by Tennessee Center for Innovative Solutions, THA is facilitating a Nursing Workforce Innovation Design Sprint – a 30-day journey to design and test a new workforce solution concept for participating organizations. More than 50 chief nursing officers, nursing leaders and HR representatives from 28 hospitals and nine health systems are participating to gather feedback and test their concepts with peers in their organization.

Additionally, the innovation firm will facilitate a train-the-trainer workshop on diversity, equity and inclusion to help organizations advance their DEI strategies. Lastly, the firm will convene higher education and hospital leaders to explore further partnership ideas to advance health careers, improve the pipeline of new graduates, and ensure critical competencies are addressed to prepare students for employment.

As foundational to this three-prong approach, THA has procured a study assessing the current and future demand, supply, and supply adequacy of key healthcare occupations, as well as analysis of workforce shortages and programs that might help alleviate them.

Through the Tennessee Center for Health Workforce Development, THA issued a request for proposal, and identified a vendor to perform a workforce supply and demand study of the healthcare occupations. The ultimate goals for this study include:

• supporting advocacy efforts related to training health professionals or other initiatives to improve overall supply adequacy,
• informing strategies of hospitals and other stakeholders to improve recruitment and retention, and
• supporting efforts to improve care delivery and overall efficiency of healthcare delivery in the state.

At the conclusion of the study this fall, THA will receive a final report, which will include specific findings, as well as recommendations and strategies the association will  discuss and share with member hospitals and health system executives, health workers, government officials, and the public at large.

Collectively, this initiative is aimed at improving the current and future healthcare landscape for Tennessee hospitals and healthcare systems to better serve patients across the state. THA anticipates sharing findings and results with industry colleagues in the coming months and looks forward to ACHE’s support to accomplish the work this initiative will inspire.

Andrea Ewin Turner

Director, Public Relations 

Marketing and Communications