Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kevin D. Lowther
Summer 2010
Health Care Professionals 2
Abstract
This paper explores issues related to health care professionals. First, the paper examines
three reasons why there may be a physician shortage rather than a surplus in the United States.
Secondly, three factors that contribute to the nursing shortage in the U.S are explored. Thirdly,
the roles of health professionals in the health care system are examined. Finally, the paper
examines the roles of a health service administrator in the U.S. health care system.
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1. Identify and describe three reasons there may be a physician shortage rather
During most of the 1990s the common wisdom was that physicians were being produced
in numbers far greater than the demand for medical care in the U.S. could support. Many
oversupply. While still other researchers disputed those studies, the media and organizations
such as the American Medical Association seemed to support the view of a physician surplus.
However, today the majority now sees things the other way, and a change is reflected in the
positions of such organizations as the Association of American Medical Colleges, the AMA, and
the Council on Graduate Medical Education. Consequently, all now project a physician
shortage.
During the 1990s the main workforce topic was whether Medicare should continue its
several billion dollar funding for residency training. Congress, in its attempt to address the
issue, commissioned the Council on Graduate Medical Education (CGME), which reported that
by the year 2000 the expected staffing ratio of one physician for every 370 citizens was more
than adequate and that the country would be well advised to scale back on residency funded
programs. Thus, without clear demonstration that increasing physician supply will have a
positive impact on health outcomes, CGME believed that enrollment should be cut 15% in order
to control physician supply. Due to this strategic action, many predict a potential severe
shortage of physicians which could further restrict access to care within the U.S. health care
system.
One of the key assumptions in several studies was that managed care in the future would
reduce the demand for physicians. However, Williams & Torrens (2010) contend that physicians
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and patients seem to prefer choice to efficiency, which will add pressure for more physicians,
and is the first of several possible factors fueling fears of a new physician shortage. Another
understated reason for projecting a physician shortage in coming years is the rapid aging of the
U.S. population in general. It is well known that patients over the age of 65 require substantially
(2010). In the academic year 2000-2001 nearly 46% of the incoming first year medical students
were women (Tilden, 2001). While the numbers may have been recognized, the differences in
their work style and career patterns have not been seen as the supply and demand issue they
represent. Women still do a majority of the tasks surrounding the raising of children and
maintaining a home, leaving less children and maintaining a home, leaving less time available
for practice. Taken together this important demographic shift within the workforce may produce
more pressure for more rather than fewer physicians (Williams & Torrens, 2010, p. 270).
2. Identify and describe three factors that contribute to the nursing shortage in the
United States
Despite being the largest group of licensed health care professionals in the United States,
registered nurses are experiencing a shortage in relation to demand. Williams & Torrens (2010)
assert that the cause of the nursing shortage is a confluence of factors, which may include the
declining number of nursing school enrollments, the aging of the RN workforce, nurses not
opportunities.
The U.S. continues to face an aging nursing workforce and an explosion in the need for
skilled nursing as the baby boom generation starts to retire, and health care and care technology
grow increasingly complex. Legislative efforts to combat the shortage have not yet had a
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significant impact nationwide. The federal Nurse Reinvestment Act contains promising
measures, including incentives to increase the number of nursing faculty, and to the credit of its
supporters it has received some funding, though not much relative to other federal programs, and
not enough to have a meaningful impact. A number of states have made efforts to address the
shortage. California has taken the lead in implementing mandatory nurse staffing ratios that
appear to have had a positive impact on patient care and nurse satisfaction, despite fierce and
ongoing opposition from the hospital and insurance industries, who argue that specific ratios are
impractical and may force hospitals to close. It is now projected that if current trends continue
the United States will be short 275,000 nurses by the year 2010, and that the nation will need to
educate about 1.1 million new nurses by 2012, which is almost half the size of today's nursing
workforce.
3. Identify and describe at least three roles the public health professional has in the
who is employed to improve health through a population focus. These professionals must have a
broad range of skills and information. They must be able to understand and apply new advances
multiple audiences, to understand and incorporate the needs and perspectives of culturally
diverse communities in public health interventions and research, and to inform policy. Further,
public health professionals will need to apply new approaches to research, approaches that
involve practitioners, researchers, and the community in joint efforts to improve health and to
understand global health issues that increasingly transcend national boundaries. Of course,
public health professionals must be able to identify and address the numerous ethical issues that
Public health professionals respond to emerging areas, changing diseases, new priorities,
and new technologies which are all vital to sustainability of the Unites States health care system.
Continued support and financing of trained public health professionals is critical. Williams &
Torrens (2010) contend that current budget deficits have led to reductions in government
spending for the health professions, which have led to stories being more common of hospitals
have nursing shortages, as well as pharmacists in most of the allied health professions and in
4. Identify and describe at least three roles that a health service administrator has in
thousands of physicians, nurses, health specialists, and other non-health workers. Health care
administrators run the health care system, coordinating and organizing the financing and delivery
of care and assisting in the management of health facilities. Executive-level administrators are
highly educated individuals responsible for overall policy directions. They assess the need for
services, equipment and personnel and also make recommendations regarding the expansion or
curtailment of services, and the establishment of new or auxiliary facilities. They also oversee
compliance with government agencies and regulations. Their duties tend to vary with the size
and operations of the health facility where they are employed; generally, smaller facilities have
less staff support so administrators are left with larger work loads. Depending on their expertise
and experience, some assistants oversee the activities of clinical departments such as nursing or
surgery, or they may direct the operations of non-health areas such as personnel, finance and
public relations. At nursing homes, home health agencies, and other smaller facilities, the duties
and responsibilities of administrators are vast and varied. Administrators wear multiple hats in
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departments such as human resources, finance and operations, and admissions. Clinical managers
are health specialists who supervise specific clinical services in the health care industry. They
have job-specific training and are involved with implementing policies and procedures for their
departments, while coordinating their activities with other managers. Policy decisions do not fall
within the parameters of managers for small group practices, but larger groups usually retain the
services of a full-time administrator who not only coordinates activities on a day-to-day basis but
Health care administrators can apply their training in health and management as
underwriters for health insurance companies and HMOs and in sales, marketing and distribution
of health equipment and supplies. Some become directors of public health, social welfare
administrators, and directors of health agencies. An administrator with a Ph.D. might consult,
teach, or do research.
References
Gebbie, K., Rosenstock, L., & Hernandez, L. (2003). Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?
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Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century. The National Academies
record_id=10542&page=R1
The Center for Nursing Advocacy. (2007). Retrieved from the internet August 19, 2010.
www.nursingadvocacy.org/faq/nursing_shortage.html.
The Princeton Review. (2008). Health Care Administrator: A Day in the Life of a Health
http://www.princetonreview.com/Careers.aspx?cid=76.
Tilden, N. (2001). The Coming Shortage of Physicians in the U.S. Retrieved from the internet
Edition
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