Kentucky hospital workforce is rebounding, but still has too many vacancies

Kentucky’s non-doctor health care workforce is on the mend, though state hospitals still have thousands of unfilled positions. (Warodom Changyencham/Getty Images)

Kentucky’s non-doctor health care workforce is on the mend, though state hospitals still have thousands of unfilled positions.

That’s according to an August report released by the Kentucky Hospital Association that shows 12% of positions in the state’s hospitals were empty in 2023, with nurses being the most in-demand. The data comes from 94% of the state’s acute care hospitals that responded to an association survey.

The report shows Kentucky hospitals had a nearly 17% vacancy rate for registered nurses (3,899 positions) last year. That’s down from 19% in 2022.

This decrease “indicates to us that all the hard work that our hospitals are doing is starting to pay off,” Nancy Galvagni, the president of the Kentucky Hospital Association, told the Lantern. “Things are trending in the right direction.”

However, the number of vacancies is still too high, she said.

“We don’t want to have a false impression that there is no problem anymore,” she said. “There’s absolutely a problem with 16% — almost 4,000 — vacancies. That’s very concerning. This is still a critical issue.”

Kentucky — and the nation — have a well-documented nursing shortage, which was exacerbated by COVID-19 -induced burnout and an aging worker population.

“We’ve been having a nursing crisis, really, since COVID, the pandemic, which caused a lot of nurses to either retire early; some new nurses decided they didn’t want to continue in nursing, or certainly at the bedside,” Galvagni said. “And our members have been working extremely hard to invest, through pay, through efforts to retain nurses, to improve the work environment.”

Retention and recruitment

About 11% of hospital registered nurses are nearing retirement, the report shows. About 15% of the state’s RNs are 55 years or older, putting them about a decade out from retirement.

Appealing to young Kentuckians is key for the hospital association, Galvagni said.

“The older baby boomers are pretty much very few in the workforce,” she said. “So, our hospitals are looking (at) how they can appeal to those younger workers.”

Sometimes staff visit schools to show students what a career in medicine could look like, she said.

They want “to make health care careers appealing to younger people and exciting, and (we’re) trying to get them to think about health care careers when they’re choosing a career for the future,” she said. “We have to get more people choosing to enter the health careers.”

Hospitals are also working to increase pay and offer better benefits for the nurses in their employ.

During the 2024 legislative session, lawmakers passed bills that Galvagni expects to improve retention and recruitment for Kentucky’s nursing workforce.

Among those are House Bill 194 , which made it a Class D felony to assault a health care worker.

“Of course, that’s not the silver bullet, but it’s helpful,” Galvagni said. “Hopefully (it) acts as a deterrent, and because that is a concern … for our health care workers.”

Lawmakers also passed House Bill 159 , which decriminalized medical mistakes made by health care providers. Galvagni believes this new law can help recruit people to health professions in the state.

“I believe it sets Kentucky apart from even many other states that don’t have that law,” she said. “I think all of these bits and pieces help make a better environment in our state for health care workers.”

Meanwhile, staffing shortages in any health facility can impact patients’ experience, Galvagni said, especially when it comes to speed of care.

“If you’re coming to the emergency room, it could mean a longer wait to get seen,” Galvagni said. “It also might mean that hospitals can’t have all their beds open. … Hospitals have a lot of physical beds, but you can’t put patients in beds if there’s not enough staff. It could mean, if you’re having elective surgery, that it’s a longer way to get that scheduled.”

Other key takeaways

The report shows, for 2023:

• Kentucky’s hospitals have 8,641 full time vacancies for a total workforce vacancy of 12%. That’s down from 15% in 2022.
• Registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing assistants are the most needed.
• Kentucky’s hospitals have 3,899 unfilled registered nurse positions, 254 licensed practical nurse vacancies and 1,264 nursing assistant vacancies.
• Among registered nurses, there are significant shortages for psychiatric (24% vacant), medical surgical (23% vacant) and critical care (19% vacant).
• Millennials (39%) and Generation Z (23%) together represent about 63% of the current RN workforce in Kentucky. These workers are 40 and younger.
• Generation X (born between 1966 – 1980) represents 27% of the RN workforce in Kentucky.
• Baby Boomers (57 and older) are 11% of the RN workforce in Kentucky.

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