5 Myths About Healthcare Staffing Shortages, Corrected by New Research

Clinical leaders are not lacking in effort when it comes to healthcare shortages.  59% report real staffing improvement over the past two years. What they’re up against is a set of assumptions that don’t hold up against the data. New Inovalon research surveying 230+ clinical leaders across hospitals and post-acute facilities correct five of the most common ones. 

Myth: “We just need to keep hiring until this is solved. Once we are fully staffed, call-outs will stop being a problem.”

Fact: Leaders already tried this, and it worked to a point. Staffing is better than two years ago for 59% of leaders, driven by recruitment and retention investment. But 75% still call their organization understaffed, and only 12% expect significant improvement over the next two years. 71% of leaders at fully staffed organizations still cited unplanned call-outs as a significant issue, nearly as high as understaffed organizations (77–83%). Headcount and shift stability are different problems, and staffing to a number doesn’t staff to disruption. 

Myth: “Scheduling software is a nice-to-have, not a strategic fix.”

Fact: Leaders don’t see it that way. Two-thirds rated mobile self-scheduling and shift-swap capabilities as significantly valuable, and 62% wanted advance visibility into call-out risk specifically. When leaders were asked what would help, scheduling technology, not another recruiting push, is what they named. 

Myth: “If we’re technically staffed, patient safety isn’t at risk.”

Fact: Understaffing and staff burnout outranked gaps in safety culture, training, or data access as barriers to patient safety. And the staffing-safety link goes deeper than headcount: fully staffed organizations are more than twice as likely to actively match staff experience and credentials to patient acuity as understaffed ones (87% vs. 42%). Being staffed and being matched correctly aren’t the same thing. 

Myth: “Turnover is a pay problem.”

Fact: Pay matters, but it’s not the whole story leaders are telling. 96% of leaders said understaffing itself, the daily experience of an unpredictable, unstable schedule, makes staff more likely to leave for good. That’s a retention lever leaders can act on directly, independent of a compensation review cycle. 

Myth: “AI in scheduling is hype, not ready for healthcare.”

Fact: Leaders are more open than skeptical with 76% describing themselves as very or cautiously optimistic about AI in staff scheduling software, versus 14% concerned or skeptical. The caution that exists is specific and reasonable in regard to implementation risk, security, wanting proven outcomes first. It is not a blanket rejection of new technology.  

See the full data behind every myth: Sustaining Effective Care Teams During Staff Shortages: Clinical Leader Insights

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