One of the employee demographics I think of that is needing to be addressed is the graying of our nursing and allied health staff. Many will be leaving the full time work force as retirement of their spouse or themselves beckons. This pool of resources will probably only want part-time or even seasonal positions. One incentive to tap into that work force could be health care benefits. The training issues of people moving in and out of the organization will need to be improved so that these people do not fall behind on the fast paced changes organizations go through (IT changes, new meds, new regulations). We will need to be flexible in our thinking that the work force will only be full timers.

I agree with Clayton, many healthcare facilities will be forced to change their approach and structure when it comes to staffing. This will be positively impacted with technological advancements in clinical areas, however, the industry must be flexible with the options that are provided to both early career clinicians as well as late career clinicians. I think this fact, more than any other, will shift the demographic of many healthcare organizations vs. what has been the historic mix of employees.

Clyaton and Robert, you both provide excellent points regarding changes in demographics. It also seems as though there are issues with socio-economic issues. Specifically, building bridges between licensed and non-licensed staff, credentialled vs. non-credentialled staff. Though historical demographic issues must be considered, I think there are other issues that must be considered as well.

These are good points. So is the answer to the original question: "So far the HCO approach to human resources does not accommodate for changes in employee demographics?"

As the final person accountable for quality in my local organization, I am concerned that in order to accommodate the changing demographics, the quality bar will shift. In my opinion we are already seeing this in trying to accommodate the new demands of physicians coming out into practice. But this can be accounted for if a solid plan is in place.