Massachusetts nurses struggle with fatigue as the healthcare industry faces workforce shortages
November 18, 2024
Most registered nurses in Massachusetts think hospital management and lawmakers don’t listen to their concerns about patient safety. That’s according to a survey conducted by Beacon Research. And nurses simultaneously feel that staffing shortages mean they’re frequently dealing with burnout, to their own detriment and that of patients.
“Staffing is a huge issue for health care, and we have been understaffed,” said June Scott, an RN at Faulkner Hospital for 24 years.
There have been ugly illustrations of the fatigue nurses are facing. Last May, a fellow Faulkner nurse was seriously injured after driving her car off the top floor of the hospital’s parking garage, where she’d taken a nap between shifts.
Besides hurting their own quality of life, Beacon Research data show that nurses feel that understaffing is a factor that’s led to deteriorated conditions for patients.
“Last year, 80% of RNs said that health care was getting worse in Massachusetts hospitals,” said Beacon Research president Chris Anderson. “That is double what it was five years earlier. It’s really a huge jump.”
Per the survey, understaffing is seen as the biggest obstacle to delivering quality care, with 60% of registered nurses saying it’s the biggest problem they face.
A separate report on nursing in Massachusetts suggests a deeper problem. Earlier this year, the Center for Health Information and Analysis, an independent state agency, released its inaugural healthcare workforce survey. It found that health and human service providers in Massachusetts are experiencing unprecedented workforce shortages.
The report points to a nurse vacancy rate across all sectors of healthcare at 17%, and a turnover rate of 29%. That’s left staffing stretched thin.
James McCarthy is an RN and union leader at Brigham and Women’s. He said that in his view, the problem lies at the feet of hospital management.
“They’re treating it like we’re manufacturing a product,” said McCarthy. “That’s why I think a lot of people are leaving, because there’s a burnout. Burnout is a huge, huge factor.”
Nurses like McCarthy worry that they’re not being heard, with the Beacon Research survey showing that 76% feel that legislators aren’t taking their staffing concerns seriously.
State Senator Cindy Friedman is among the legislators tuned into the issue. But she said that there’s no simple solution in sight. “Unless we’re willing to make hard choices and to bring everybody to the table that is part of this problem and part of the solution, it’s going to be really hard to fix it,” said Friedman. “And right now, we don’t have everyone at the table.”