Source: ADVANCE for Imaging and Oncology Administrators | Editorial.
According to the Human Resource Management Association, 20.4 percent of health care employees—one in five—quit their jobs every year. The number easily exceeds the 12 percent to 15 percent turnover rate experienced in most other industries.
And turnover is expensive. The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates turnover costs to be one-third of a worker's annual salary. The latest BLS data show that 247,000 health care and social assistance employees voluntarily quit their jobs in April 2005—1.7 percent of all health care employees—and that another 97,000 were laid off, discharged, retired, were disabled or died.
Some of the costs associated with turnover rates include recruiting costs, training costs, lost productivity, reduced team morale, higher costs of temporary help, and higher error rates as new workers progress through the learning curve.
Although some turnover is unavoidable—people get married, move away, change careers—a lot is preventable and imaging managers know they must be creative when it comes to keeping their technologists happy and retaining trained staff.
If current enrollment, attrition and retention trends remain stable, the American Society of Radiologic Technologists predicts that the United States will fall short of producing enough radiographers to meet government-projected demand through 2012.
The BLS projects that 72,000 additional radiographers will need to be added to the work force between 2002 and 2012. Based on current data and a survey conducted in September 2004, the ASRT estimates that 61,746 additional radiographers will be working in 2012, which is about 14 percent lower than the number the BLS predicts the country will need.
Things are not so dire in other modalities, however. The BLS projects that the nation will require 7,000 more radiation therapists and 7,000 more nuclear medicine technologists in 2012 than it had in 2000. If current enrollment, attrition and retention trends hold steady, the ASRT estimates that the nation will have more than enough to meet the government-projected demand. An additional 10,135 radiation therapists and 13,500 ARRT-registered nuclear medicine technologists are projected to join the profession by 2012.
Still, more and more employers are realizing the benefits of adopting strategies to reduce burnout and increase morale amongst technologists. In addition to adjusting pay scales to meet market demands, hospitals and imaging departments are discovering that what many employees say they want most is a little respect.
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