Becker's Hospital Review

99 CMO / CARE DELIVERY roles like that and pay like that," Mr. Galley said. "I think our employees understand the difference between that kind of a lifestyle that goes along with the higher salary." CommonSpirit's internal agency plans to start traveling in the early spring and is in the process of hiring a national director for the program. e system's goal is to have 500 nurses. Dr. Sanford said the program will be beneficial because it will bring down competition, and people who want to travel can still be employees within the health system. "It gives nurses who are our employees a choice if they want to be travelers or if they want to do it part time and then come back to a job within one of our hospitals or in one of our clinics. … ey won't lose their benefits, they won't lose their seniority. ey'll be our employees," Dr. Sanford said. Other systems are exploring similar programs, such as Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health, which recently ran a pilot in- house traveler program. e health system has also used outside agencies, which cost about triple compared to pre-pandemic. "is program was very successful, less expensive than using an external travel agency and worked really well across our large health system that covers multiple states," said Patricia Mook, MSN, RN, vice president of nursing operations at Atrium Health. But internal travel programs may not be easy for other health systems to mimic, especially smaller ones. Hospitals have to be of a certain size for an internal travel program to work, meaning an individual hospital wouldn't be able to have one, Mr. Galley said. More than that, it's a complex undertaking, he said. "It's not without its challenges," Mr. Galley said. "I just think it's something that takes the resources and thought leadership to be able to do. But you're not going to find independent hospitals being able to mirror this." Dr. Sanford also recommends having a few different strategies in place to combat nurse shortages. "Don't make it your only strategy because there are so many issues that we could do better with our nursing staff. … You need to be looking at all of the different things that give nurses voice in your organization," Dr. Sanford said. n 29 physician specialties ranked by 2021 burnout rates By Erica Carbajal E mergency medicine physicians have the highest rates of burnout among all physician specialties, according to a Medscape's 2022 Physician Burnout and Depression report. More than 13,000 physicians across 29 specialties were surveyed between June 29 and Sept. 26, 2021. Across all specialties, 47 percent reported feeling burned out last year. Here's how each specialty stacked up: Note: This list includes ties. 1. Emergency medicine — 60 percent of physicians reported burnout 2. Critical care — 56 percent 3. Obstetrics and gynecology — 53 percent 4. Infectious diseases — 51 percent Family medicine — 51 percent 5. Physical medicine and rehabilitation — 50 percent Diabetes and endocrinology — 50 percent 6. Radiology — 49 percent 7. Pediatrics — 49 percent 8. Pulmonary medicine — 48 percent Gastroenterology — 48 percent Internal medicine — 48 percent Urology — 48 percent 9. Anesthesiology — 47 percent 10. Rheumatology — 46 percent Neurology — 46 percent 11. General surgery — 44 percent 12. Cardiology — 42 percent Allergy and immunology — 42 percent 13. Nephrology — 40 percent Plastic Surgery — 40 percent Ophthalmology — 40 percent 14. Psychiatry — 38 percent 15. Otolaryngology — 37 percent Orthopedics — 37 percent 16. Oncology — 36 percent 17. Pathology — 35 percent 18. Dermatology — 33 percent 19. Public health and preventive medicine — 26 percent n

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