Problem:
"The public health workforce is diminishing over time (there were 50,000 fewer public health workers in 2000 than in 1980). This troubling epidemic force public health workers to do more for more people with fewer resources. This challenge is compounded by the fact that 23% of the current workforce - almost 110,000 workers - are eligible to retire by 2012" (ASPH, 2010).
There are several factors that hinder the public health workforce from recruiting, retaining and training adequate staff such as;
- Assessing an adequate supply of public health workers in relation to the demand for them-the need for public health care workers outweigh the number of workers that can provide health care services. From an observant perspective hospitals are understaffed resulting in nurses, physicians and administrative support staff workers to be overworked thus causing the quality of care provided to patients to decline. Hospitals in the United States, for example, are aggressively searching for workers that will alleviate their insufficient workforce. For example, University Medical Center (UMC) in Las Vegas, Nevada, is deemed as the worst hospital in the state due to their inadequate staff, inability to maintain Total Quality Management (TQM), inefficient service with incompetent staff members.
- Quantifying differences in staffing in light of organizational differences-"Over the past decade, a number of significant studies of the public health workforce were conducted , designed to help the health community better understand the composition of the workforce, its availability, its functions and the adequacy of its preparation to carry out required duties. However, these efforts have been complicated by the fact that the public health workforce is not easily defined or measured. It is a very diverse workforce, found in many settings and providing a wide range of services. Public health workers are not generally licensed which would facilitate counting and studying this workforce. Responsibilities are shared between public agencies, voluntary hospitals and others in the health sector. In addition, within the public sector, responsibility is shared between different levels of government and several agencies. There are also major State-by-State variations in responsibility among State and local government and private groups, compounding the difficulty of counting and tracking the public health workforce. Additionally, functions and responsibilities can vary within a State between rural and urban locations." (HRSA, 2005).