Our medical community is comprised of thousands upon thousands of dedicated physicians and medical professionals. Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, alone, is the professional home to more than 500 employees.
In Clark County, we have a population of more than 2 million residents and approximately 74,400 physicians, nurses and ancillary staff to care for them. While we have a wealth of excellent medical professionals in our community, we simply need more feet on the ground. According to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, the Silver State will need more than 32,000 medical professionals by 2022 to meet demand.
Staffing shortages are touching all facets of the medical field — an example is nursing. Despite being one of the fastest growing professions in the United States, the demand for nurses is quickly outpacing the supply. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, by 2022 more than 500,000 nurses are expected to retire or leave the workforce.
Here in Southern Nevada, we are fortunate to have a number of nursing schools, but the demand is still a bit greater than what can be produced. As a result, the community must think outside of the box in terms of how we attract and sustain talent. In the oncology world, for example, nurses have traditionally obtained their initial experience in an in-patient setting and gradually worked their way to an outpatient facility (i.e. a doctor’s office or clinic). Now, from the get-go, many practices are taking new graduates under their wings in an outpatient setting.
Oncology nurses, specifically, are certainly not a dime a dozen — it is a difficult specialty that requires specific knowledge and education. At CCCN, we guide our new nurses through experiences that closely resemble a post-graduate program. In terms of attracting and retaining top talent, this educational approach has proven successful, as we are fully staffed in terms of nursing. We have built our nurses from the ground up.
Partnerships in higher education are also another proven way to fill staffing vacancies. Face-time, especially, is invaluable with soon-to-be and recent graduates. CCCN partners with a number of educational institutions to participate in or present at insightful mixers, fairs and educational sessions to ultimately attract the best talent possible for our patients and greater community.
CCCN recently partnered with the UNLV School of Nursing in an initiative designed to help nurses who have experienced a licensing lapse get back to work. In order for these nurses to re-enter the profession, they had to perform a certain number of hours to regain their license. Under the partnership, nurses utilized CCCN clinics to obtain required hours and experience, which ultimately allowed them to obtain employment. Through this exposure to our practice, several of these nurses have been hired on at CCCN, while others have gone on to pursue employment in other local healthcare institutions. Regardless, our efforts have helped nurses get back to work and we are proud of those efforts.
Separately and from a state level, more ancillary support is also needed (medical assistants are truly the unsung heroes of the medical world) as well as additional training and educational opportunities.
And on that note, there is no undermining just how much of an impact the new UNLV School of Medicine will have on our collective recruitment efforts. We have the expertise and depth in our community to be a hotspot for fellowships completed after residencies. A medical school is huge — it elevates the academic community and brings more partnerships and possibilities to life.
Outside of what we can do, we must recognize what we have — a community where innovation is blossoming. CCCN alone participates in more than 170 clinical research studies each year and has played a role in developing more than 60 FDA-approved cancer therapies. Clinical research and personal satisfaction matter to our medical professionals — it is a factor often weighed with salary, family, benefits and company culture.
One final plus in our community’s favor is our quality of life — there is no denying just how amazing it is to call Southern Nevada home. As part of any recruiting effort, it’s important for candidates to see our facilities and our greater community. By doing so, we believe it’s going to be hard for them to say no.
Jennifer Lucisano is practice director at Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada. Lucisano oversees nursing, research, laboratory services and the practice’s medical oncology clinics.