Career Advice | Health care Industry Predictions from Healthcare Staffing Experts
An Expert Point of View: Health care industry predictions from health care staffing experts
The health care industry is an exciting place to work right now. New
legislation, alternative health care and the latest technologies and medicines
are constantly changing the industry. So what can health care professionals
expect in the coming years? Industry experts have seen the twists and turns of
the business before, and foresee quite a few changes in the future.
"We're actually seeing entire new professions emerge before our eyes," says Debi Taub, a recruiter based in Northern Virginia with more than 10 years specializing in the health care staffing industry.
Nurses, technicians and doctors will soon work alongside "new" staff, according to Taub. "We'll be seeing new professional roles and jobs emerging," agrees Fran Roberts, R.N., Ph.D, "many to do with genomics [and] ethical counseling." Roberts is the Vice President of Professional Services for the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association.
"And we will see increased attention to the two opposite ends of the workforce spectrum," she adds. Physicians and minimum wage laborers will be in high demand along with the professionals who the industry has a great need for now: nurses, technicians and pharmacists.
Another change? Roberts proposes that the way health care professionals handle patient relationships will evolve in the near future.
"We must forge partnerships with our patients' families, their neighborhoods and communities," suggests Roberts. "As a major part of that effort, trust must increase between caregivers and care receivers."
Taub agrees that relationship-building skills are becoming increasingly important to employers as they recruit new health care employees.
She also notes that the demographics of the health care workforce will continue to change in the future, and Roberts holds the same opinion.
"We will see a great swing towards increased gender, ethnic and cultural diversity in the health professions," says Roberts. "This is extremely positive since our current workforce in no way reflects the backgrounds of those we care for."
No one can predict every change the industry will face in the next decade, but issues such as duties, relationships and demographics in the health care workforce will definitely evolve in the near future. And, as Roberts notes, "How exciting!" For the professionals, the employers and the patients will enjoy the benefits of the evolution!
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