Healthcare’s Bad WrAPP: How APPs Can Help Keep Support Staff

I suspect most practicing APPs are currently affected by healthcare staffing shortages, whether you work in a hospital or an outpatient facility.

Looking at recent data:
–  In the year of 2021, more than 100,000 nurses left the nursing profession [1].
–  A 2022 study conducted by ConnectRN reveals that 50% of nurses have considered leaving their profession, and 34% of these individuals cite “lack of respect for the work they do” as a primary reason for their job dissatisfaction [2].
–  A 2022 survey by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) revealed that 27% of medical practices struggle to recruit nurses, and 44% have difficulty recruiting medical assistants [3].
–  The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates there will be >120,000 job openings for medical assistants every year for the next decade to replace MAs who have left their current positions [4].

Constant personnel turnover staff training (and re-training) is frustrating, inefficient, and expensive for any medical group.

Staff unhappiness inevitably affects how APPs care for their patients, and while it’s “not our problem” – it becomes our problem.

MAs, nurses, receptionists, and other support staff report to APPs because we are clinicians and medical decision-makers within the practice, yet we often are not the practice’s owner, manager, or even the “boss.” PAs and NPs can find themselves in an interesting position between their organizational leadership and medical support staff. We are “in charge,” but we’re not in charge of financial compensation for those who assist us in providing medical care.

This leads me to ask…

What can we do as APPs to motivate our support team while staying within our boundaries as organizational employees?

How can we make things better for the teams we rely upon to care for our patients?

How can we boost morale without taking money out of our own pockets?

On Monday, May 15th, we will discuss 5 tips that APPs can use to reduce staff turnover. If you have tips to share with other clinicians, please email send us a message!

-Nikki Rataj Casady, DMSc, PA-C
email@appcolleague.org