3 Exciting Nursing And Healthcare Trends We Can Expect To See In 2023

What does the future look like for nurses in 2023 and what are the nursing and healthcare trends we can expect to see? It’s the beginning of a new year and there have already been some notable events taking place in not only hospitals across the United States but also those worldwide. A shift seems to be occurring in the healthcare industry. Though it’s long-awaited after the endless news stories of nurse shortages, hospital nurse-to-patient staffing ratios being inadequate, and many still feeling the effects of the pandemic and the feelings of burnout associated with it. Thankfully, travel nurses have been able to step in to fill the gaps when needed.

The Strike

On January 9th, 2023, 7,000 union nurses at two major hospitals – Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx – walked off the job for a three day strike after failing to reach agreements with the hospitals over concerns about wages, nurse-to-patient staffing ratios, and being able to provide quality patient care.

Nurses’ unions all over the country have been trying to push for better staffing. Not only are patients unable to get the quality of health care they deserve, with some hospitals having an emergency room waiting time of 6+ hours with not enough area to fit patients in need, but healthcare professionals are feeling the full effects of burnout. This leaves nurses feeling unable to care for patients and putting themselves consistently in harm’s way.

Even the New York State Nurse Association President Nancy Hagans states “Since [New York City] nurses started negotiating our contracts four months ago, we have said our number one issue is the crisis of chronic understaffing that harms patient care. Safe staffing is about having enough nurses to deliver the safe, quality care to every patient. It is the issue that our employers have ignored, made excuses about, and fought against us on.”

Washington Post – 7,000 nurses strike at two New York hospitals after talks collapse

With a three-day strike at a hospital in Chicago on January 3rd, a nine-day strike in hospitals in Oakland and Berkeley, California, around Christmas and a five-day strike in a Marina del Rey hospital in California on December 12, there is a cause for concern. With staffing shortages getting worse, the end doesn’t seem to be soon. With no established dates for nurses and hospitals to negotiate, there is a current standstill.

What are the Nursing And Healthcare Trends We Can Expect To See for Nurses in 2023?

Homecare Nursing Will Boom

As mentioned previously, there are sometimes 6+ hour waiting times in emergency rooms across major hospitals. Even if your issue isn’t emergency based, it can take an average of 20 days to receive an appointment with a family physician. This means that home-focused care is on the rise. Individuals would rather receive some virtual assistance at home than have to go to doctors or hospitals. Telehealth is at the peak of 2023’s trends and seems to be a concept many nurses will have to be ready to partake in at some point.

Burnout Will Be Addressed

Although a prediction by Forbes, it is one that we hope makes its way into 2023. The concept is that institutions and healthcare organizations will start to take a better look into what the underlying causes of burnout are within their systems. With these strikes making it increasingly clear how immensely nurses have been affected by burnout, it is becoming evident that this type of work is not rewarding financially or physically. So what’s the solution?

Forbes predicts, “leaders of healthcare organizations will begin to fix it. Not with pro forma yoga classes or subscriptions to meditation apps or burnout seminars. I mean really fix it. By streamlining work. By eliminating unnecessary administrative tasks. By promoting and authentically honoring people. By making people feel like they matter again. By remembering that the people in your employ are the product in most healthcare organizations.”

Forbes – Top 10 Healthcare Predictions For 2023

Travel Nursing Will Continue To Boom

Throughout the whole pandemic, there was a battle between what was right and what was realistic. More nurses in high-risk hospitals were needed and travel nurses filled this demand. This was followed by travel nurses being in high demand as healthcare workers struggled to handle the immense pressure of COVID. More demand meant more pay and travel nurses were earning a substantial amount compared to their fellow full-time nurses during this time. Next came the controversial step. In a situation as difficult, devastating and continuous as the virus, many nurses quit to take the travel nursing route. This allowed them to make a worthy income while they risked their lives in hospitals with little to no safety gear or aid.

Today, the consensus seems to be the same. With hospitals now struggling with nursing shortages – after many quit to find an alternate path or simply retire – it is again up to travel nurses to fill the gaps. While the pay may not be as extravagant as at the peak pandemic, it is still a role that hospitals are continuously seeking and a huge draw into why many nurses want to enter this alternative job.

TheraEx Staffing Agency

If you too are someone who is struggling with burnout, are striving for a higher income or would like to take an alternate route in life, travel nursing could be the perfect path for you. Taking on assignments across the country in healthcare facilities that need you means being able to expand your skills and experience, all while making a great income. If this is something you think you would be interested in finding more information about, please feel free to click here and ask any questions you may have.

The Bottom Line

There seem to be many shifts coming for nurses and travel nursing in 2023. Healthcare workers are already speaking up and fighting for what it is they need in hospitals and facilities to better care for their patients and help themselves. Heading into the year, it is going to be interesting to see what real transformations take place to create the real change that so many have been waiting for.