Health Care Workforce

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Lenny said this yesterday:  "It's worked for every essential worker we have from firemen to health care workers to policemen to meat packers to grocery clerks to etc., etc., etc. - but I guess educating our children and looking out for their mental health/well being isn't considered essential any more. Sad what these teachers have done. Incomprehensible that there are people applauding them for doing it."


Yeah.  Regarding those health care workers.  From the Atlantic:

"Public support is also faltering. "We once had parades and people hanging up signs; professional sports teams used to do Zooms with us and send us lunches," Falise told me. "The pandemic hasn't really become any different, but those things are gone." Health-care workers now experience indifference at best or antagonism at worst. And more than ever, they are struggling with the jarring disconnect between their jobs and their communities. At work, they see the inescapable reality of the pandemic. Everywhere else—on TV and social media, during commutes and grocery runs—they see people living the fantasy that it is over. The rest of the country seems hell-bent on returning to normal, but their choices mean that health-care workers cannot.

As a result, "there's an enormous loss of empathy among health-care workers," Swaminathan said. "People have hit a tipping point," and the number of colleagues who've talked about retiring or switching careers "has grown dramatically in the last couple of months." Medicine runs on an unspoken social contract in which medical professionals expect themselves to sacrifice their own well-being for their patients. But the pandemic has exposed how fragile that contract is, said Arora, the Illinois hospitalist. "Society has decided to move on with their lives, and it's hard to blame health-care workers for doing the same," she said."


https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/01/omicron-mild-hospital-strain-health-care-workers/621193/

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

BTW I post this not to call out the health care workforce.  My point is that we can't expect people, no matter how "essential" we deem their jobs, to work in a perpetual state of chaos over a two year period.  Nurses, doctors, teachers, etc. all deserve some grace because this isn't what they signed up for.  Not to mention they have to deal with issues outside of work as well.

[jesmu84]

Just like teachers, what we've been doing to healthcare and healthcare workers over the last 20+ years is leading to ruin.

Turning healthcare (and housing and etc) into a commodity has torn down a once great system. We've lowered health outcomes. We look terrible in nearly every metric when compared to peer nations. Not only are we paying low wages to nearly all healthcare employees, but we also cut costs by reducing # of support staff. It's abhorrent.

Source: I am a PA

[pacearrow02]

Just like teachers, what we've been doing to healthcare and healthcare workers over the last 20+ years is leading to ruin.

Turning healthcare (and housing and etc) into a commodity has torn down a once great system. We've lowered health outcomes. We look terrible in nearly every metric when compared to peer nations. Not only are we paying low wages to nearly all healthcare employees, but we also cut costs by reducing # of support staff. It's abhorrent.

Source: I am a PA

https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/ratios

A lot of work being done around standardizing and regulating appropriate nurse to patient ratios.  Support this movement whole heartedly.  Better care, happier/healthier nurses, and a distant third create more well paying jobs. 

Surprised to hear you say we've lowered health care outcomes.  In my opinion, working in the field for awhile now we've come along way in the last 10 years in attaching reimbursement/fines to how well a hospital is performing in reducing HAIs.  It wasn't that long ago that quality scorecards in the acute care setting were not even a thing or at best only shared internally.  A lot of that data is now public, reported to CMS, and directly tied to reimbursement for a hospital/health system. 

Are you a PA in the acute care setting?

Edit: not just an emphasis on reducing HAIs but also tracking readmissions, LOS, etc has all come so far in the last 10 years.

[Lennys Tap]

BTW I post this not to call out the health care workforce.  My point is that we can't expect people, no matter how "essential" we deem their jobs, to work in a perpetual state of chaos over a two year period.  Nurses, doctors, teachers, etc. all deserve some grace because this isn't what they signed up for.  Not to mention they have to deal with issues outside of work as well.

Health care workers (and many, many other workers) have shown up throughout. Maybe some idiots aren't grateful for that but I am. And I'm forever grateful for the Catholic school teachers who showed up pretty much throughout. Same for the Public school teachers here (Florida) and many other places. Chicago? Not so much.

[Frenns Liquor Depot]

Healthcare workers and the state of the system as reported by Ed Yong of the Atlantic

https://twitter.com/edyong209/status/1479448857402650624?s=21

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Health care workers (and many, many other workers) have shown up throughout. Maybe some idiots aren't grateful for that but I am. And I'm forever grateful for the Catholic school teachers who showed up pretty much throughout. Same for the Public school teachers here (Florida) and many other places. Chicago? Not so much.

Point sails over your head per usual.

[MUDPT]

https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/ratios

A lot of work being done around standardizing and regulating appropriate nurse to patient ratios.  Support this movement whole heartedly.  Better care, happier/healthier nurses, and a distant third create more well paying jobs. 

Surprised to hear you say we've lowered health care outcomes.  In my opinion, working in the field for awhile now we've come along way in the last 10 years in attaching reimbursement/fines to how well a hospital is performing in reducing HAIs.  It wasn't that long ago that quality scorecards in the acute care setting were not even a thing or at best only shared internally.  A lot of that data is now public, reported to CMS, and directly tied to reimbursement for a hospital/health system. 

Are you a PA in the acute care setting?

Edit: not just an emphasis on reducing HAIs but also tracking readmissions, LOS, etc has all come so far in the last 10 years.

Infections sure, but how has tracking readmissions and length of stay improved anything?

[pacearrow02]

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Value-Based-Programs/HRRP/Hospital-Readmission-Reduction-Program

[MUDPT]

https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Value-Based-Programs/HRRP/Hospital-Readmission-Reduction-Program

I'm asking you a serious question. I want to know why you think that. Not some CMS report.

[Lennys Tap]

Point sails over your head per usual.

I got your "point" but it was irrelevant to my post that you quoted.

[Galway Eagle]

Health care workers (and many, many other workers) have shown up throughout. Maybe some idiots aren't grateful for that but I am. And I'm forever grateful for the Catholic school teachers who showed up pretty much throughout. Same for the Public school teachers here (Florida) and many other places. Chicago? Not so much.

Do you actually know their negotiated contract? I'm guessing you don't I don't either but I know it's similar to the Morton contract which is a joke. Teacher tests positive it's mandated virtual school, but also they have to use their sick days. If they're out of sick days then it's docked pay, WHILE STILL WORKING!!! How do I know because that's the Bs my fiancé has to do this week. Meanwhile I'm sure in your 20s you got to call out for the sniffles and use a sick day or have the manager not doc your pay.

Just STFU till you know exactly what details they're upset over.

[MU82]

Same for the Public school teachers here (Florida)

Y'all in Florida have a funny way of showing your appreciation for your dedicated teachers.

https://www.business.org/hr/workforce-management/best-us-states-for-teachers/

Florida ranks 47th in the metric comparing teacher pay to compensation for all other occupations. Only Arizona, Colorado and Virginia ranked lower.

It's actually worse when it comes to simply comparing teacher salaries. Only Mississippi pays its teachers less than Florida's $48,800.

"Nationally, teacher salaries dipped by about 3% from 2010 to 2020. But seven states saw dramatic decreases in teacher pay of over 10%: Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana, Florida, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Ohio."

Florida public education is going through a crisis, as teachers are quitting bigly. There were 4,961 teacher openings as this school year began, an increase of more than 67% from August 2020, when there were 2,962 advertised positions. It is a 38.7% increase over the vacancies reported pre-pandemic in August 2019.

https://feaweb.org/issues-action/teacher-and-staff-shortage/

Lousy pay and lousy conditions will do that.

So yes, you should be grateful for those who haven't quit and who have "showed up pretty much throughout," Lenny. And if you haven't already, you might want to ask your state representatives to show a little more gratitude, too.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

I got your "point" but it was irrelevant to my post that you quoted.

WOOSH yet again!  Cause it was.

Really cobwebby today I see.

[pacearrow02]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ScottGottliebMD/status/1480223157952950287

Seems beds are there, nurse shortage is the biggest problem right now.

[#UnleashSean]

Going out on a limb to state that caregivers/workers for adults with special needs have near the same level of exposure as nurses and yet, over the past 2 years, not a single thanks was ever given to them. 

[Hards Alumni]

Going out on a limb to state that caregivers/workers for adults with special needs have near the same level of exposure as nurses and yet, over the past 2 years, not a single thanks was ever given to them. 

Nor their day program workers nor their drivers.   We don't even get officially notified for potential exposures... getting a thank you is much further down the list.

[#UnleashSean]

Nor their day program workers nor their drivers.   We don't even get officially notified for potential exposures... getting a thank you is much further down the list.

Don't you enjoy only finding out about exposure from word of mouth on why someone isn't in that day?

[tower912]

I love being told after 20 minutes of CPR that they were COVID positive.

[4everwarriors]

Fahrenheit, in your biz, it would be wise ta assume everyone iz covid+, until proven udderwise, aina?

[Hards Alumni]

Don't you enjoy only finding out about exposure from word of mouth on why someone isn't in that day?

Exactly.  We find out when multiple people from one day center cancel out for the rest of the week.  Often we have to put two and two together.

So much for contact tracing.

[#UnleashSean]

Exactly.  We find out when multiple people from one day center cancel out for the rest of the week.  Often we have to put two and two together.

So much for contact tracing.

My company has gone with the policy of don't ask don't tell, as they try desperately to cling onto enough staff to manage the day cares and the homes. 2 weeks ago we had a day center with 110 clients and 6 staff.

All the other area day centers had shutdown forcing our company to have to watch them. Couldn't get enough staff for houses, so they just sent them all to one location.

Those employees are paid 11/hr and if contracted covid, the company will not pay them for missed time.

[Warriors4ever]

$11 an hour and no sick time?
That's terrible.

[Hards Alumni]

$11 an hour and no sick time?
That's terrible.

Welcome to in home health care!

[MU82]

Although SCOTUS shot down the nationwide vaccine mandate for businesses, even this Handmaid's Tale SCOTUS (mostly) came to their senses regarding the requirement that health-care workers be vaccinated:

"COVID-19 is a highly contagious, dangerous, and - especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients - deadly disease. Indeed, their [healthcare industry] support suggests that a vaccination requirement under these circumstances is a straightforward and predictable example of the health and safety regulations that Congress has authorized the Secretary to impose. After all, ensuring that providers take steps to avoid transmitting a dangerous virus to their patients is consistent with the fundamental principle of the medical profession: first, do no harm."

That Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch and Barrett voted against this was predictable but it's still pretty scary.