2008 Houston RN LMP Executive Summary

The health care delivery system in the United States is facing dramatic challenges. As hospitals and health systems struggle to respond to increased demand for services, financial pressures, and quality concerns, the importance of effective workforce planning to maintain costs while meeting demand becomes even more critical.

In response to demands for local RN workforce data that provides actionable information, Health Workforce Solutions LLC (HWS) developed a first-of-its-kind, centralized and local workforce planning tool - Labor Market PulseTM (LMP). LMP research is designed to go beyond traditional workforce data to uncover what nurses really think about employers, jobs and education programs.

Houston is Struggling with an Ongoing Shortage of 4,000 to 5,000 FTE RNs

  • The shortage of RNs is likely greater than indicated due to massive construction underway at the Medical Center which is not fully captured in current employment projections
  • The vast majority of the RN pipeline are inexperienced new graduates; suggesting that hospitals will struggle more acutely with experienced RN shortages
  • Houston office of Texas Workforce Solutions 1 predicts by 2014, almost 3,000 beds will be added in the region, requiring almost 5,700 new nurses needed to staff those beds2

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Workforce Survey Insights: Houston RNs Select Employer of Choice 2008

 

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HWS surveyed over 400 current and aspiring RNs in Houston to select the 2008 Employer of Choice and generate Workforce Survey Insights. The 2008 survey sample includes

  • 172 pre-license nursing students,
  • 52 novice nurses, and
  • 207 experienced nurses

Workforce Survey Insights: Houston’s Nurses Speak Out on Recruiting and Retention

  • The vast majority of nurses identified flexible scheduling — including self-scheduling, the ability to flex hours up and down, and time off for personal commitments such as classes — as the most desirable characteristic in an employer or potential employer
  • Excellent benefits and compensation were also identified as critical in selecting an employer. RNs want to know they are being paid competitively and rewarded for advanced degrees and certifications
  • The salary and sign-on bonus expectations of nursing students are not aligned with current market conditions; fortunately, nursing students have realistic expectations for paid time off
  • Medical Center RNs were more likely to leave a job due to burnout than RNs who work outside the Medical Center
  • Unlike experienced RNs who identified flexibility as the number one area in which they need increased work-life balance support, novice nurses identify effective technology as the number one way employers could better support them with work-life balance
  • Many RNs leave an employer for a different type of RN position, often within a similar facility, indicating that easing intra-facility or system transfers could help with retention

“Most important to me is a positive work environment, salary and the ability to choose which days I will work out of each week.”
– Houston nursing student

LMP Introduces the HWS Houston RN Vacancy Index

  • Select Houston hospitals are recruiting 805 RNs (720 FTEs) as of October 28, 2008.

 

 

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HWS Forming Houston Research Council. Members Wanted!

Research Council Members support survey efforts, enjoy 1-on-1 strategy sessions with LMP analysts, help fund operations, and receive unlimited access to our research. Most research reports provide more than 80 detailed charts, graphs, actionable insights and opportunity assessments presented in a time-saving format. The full version of this report includes

  • Compensation and benefits preferences for student, novice and experienced RNs
  • Most desirable characteristics in an employer for student, novice and experienced RNs
  • Key drivers of retention & turn-over for student, novice and experienced RNs
  • HWS RN Vacancy Index, Retirement Vulnerability Index and other workforce indicators
  • Hot topic news, analysis and more!

Organizations who opt not to join the Research Council may still participate in LMP research efforts. In lieu of financial support, Research Contributors champion LMP surveys and receive access to summary findings and data that resulted from their efforts.

Contact sales@healthws.com to join! Or visit www.labormarketpulse.com for more information.

Methodology

Houston RN Shortfall
The demand for RNs is calculated using 2004 to 2014 occupational employment projections from The Labor Market & Career Information Department (LMCI) of the Texas Workforce Commission. A compounded annual growth rate is calculated from the data and used to allocate the employment projections on an annual basis. LMCI projections include the effects of population growth, increased utilization of health services, expansion plans, and the use of technology or different care models.

The supply of RNs is calculated using the actual number of working RNs in the area for 2004-2008, as supplied by the Texas Board of Nursing, and a projected supply for the years 2009-2014. The five-year compounded annual growth rate from 2004-2008 was used to project the supply of RN FTEs out to 2014. Using 2008 NCLEX data, assuming that the levels of new graduates will remain steady, and that 10% will seek work outside the market, allowed for estimation of the new entrant and new graduate pipeline.

Houston Workforce Survey Insights
Invitations to participate in Labor Market Pulse’s 2008 Houston RN Workforce Survey were distributed directly by research contributors and council members via e-mail. The survey was conducted and data collected using an industry standard online application. Please see the “Acknowledgements” section of this report for a complete list of Houston’s LMP research contributors and research council members.

Employers were asked to distribute the survey to recent applicants and new hires. LMP believes The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center was the only employer to do so. In future reports, LMP anticipates broader employer participation.

HWS Houston RN Vacancy Index
The HWS RN Vacancy Rate Index is modeled after a highly successful allied health vacancy tracking project developed by researchers at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research for the state of North Carolina.

Beds typically represent licensed beds as reported on the hospital’s website or publicly available news websites. The figures presented were rounded to the nearest multiple of 10. The bed figures are used to estimate RN FTEs employed in cases where that data was unavailable.

RN FTEs Posting data is based on tracking publicly posted RN positions for a six-week interval ending October 28, 2008. Part-time and per diem positions were counted as 0.5 FTE for purposes of this analysis.

RN FTEs Employed data is based on self reported information in the AHA 2008 Hospital Survey as accessed through AHA Online Hospital Detail Database. In cases where that information was not reported, RN FTEs Employed is estimated by multiplying Beds by a multiple of 1.5. That multiple reflects the rough average of RN FTEs Employed divided by Beds for the remaining selected hospitals.

If Beds or RN FTEs Employed estimates are inaccurate, contact sales@healthws.com to provide a correction.

   

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