Potential problem in health care

1. Lack of advancement opportunities. Fifty-one percent of healthcare workers said lack of advancement opportunities posed a significant challenge in their current or previous position. The number was slightly lower among nurses: 49 percent of nurses identified advancement opportunities as a challenge, compared to 52 percent of other healthcare professionals.

The CareerBuilder survey also asked healthcare professionals if their current or most recent employer offered a number of different employee development programs, including in-house skills training, education reimbursement, technology training and opportunity for innovation. Of the 10 programs listed, only one — in-house skills training — was answered “yes” by more than 50 percent of survey takers. Interestingly, employers felt differently: In response to the same question, more than 50 percent of employers said they offered in-house skills training, education reimbursement, flexible work schedules, cross-training and the opportunity to mentor others.

According to the CareerBuilder survey, the provider shortage is hitting every healthcare organization in the country — especially when it comes to nurses. Forty percent of healthcare workers responded that they felt challenged by work overload at their jobs; the number jumped to 48 percent when the pool was limit to only nurses. The survey also identified a key turnover issue in healthcare workers taking on additional responsibilities above their comfort level. The provider shortage means fewer staff members must divide a significant workload, pushing some employees to the brink of exhaustion and decreasing job satisfaction considerably.