Hospital CEOs Say Nursing Shortages Are Most Challenging Issue

A newly released poll of hospital CEOs show how questionable pandemic mandates impacted workforce challenges negatively across America.

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In their latest survey, American College of Healthcare Executives’ executives identified “workforce challenges” as the No. 1 concern for the second year in a row and overtook the historic “financial challenges” concern.

● 90 percent of CEOs ranked shortages of registered nurses as the most pressing within the category of workforce challenges

● 83 percent ranked shortages of technicians

● 80 percent ranked burnout among non-physician staff.

Here are the most concerning issues hospital CEOs ranked in 2022:

1. Workforce challenges (includes personnel shortages and staff burnout, among other issues)

2. Financial challenges

3. Behavioral health and addiction issues

4. Patient safety and quality

5. Governmental mandates

6. Access to care

7. Patient satisfaction

8. Physician-hospital relations

9. Technology

10. Population health management

11. Reorganization (mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and restructuring)

Within financial challenges, most CEOs (89 percent) ranked increasing costs for staff and supplies as the most pressing, followed by operating costs (66 percent) and Medicaid reimbursement (63 percent).

Seventy-eight percent of CEOs ranked lack of appropriate facilities/programs as most pressing within the category of behavioral health and addiction issues. That was followed by lack of funding for addressing behavioral health and addiction issues (77 percent).

The results are based on a survey administered to CEOs of community hospitals (non-federal, short-term, non-specialty hospitals). ACHE asked respondents to rank 11 issues affecting their hospitals in order of how pressing they are. Results are based on responses from 281 executives.