Healthcare Workers: What to Look For in an Employer

The healthcare industry — and demand for healthcare professionals — is booming. That puts healthcare workers in a strong position, since it ensures that they don’t have to settle for working for an employer that doesn’t have their best interests at heart. 

Finding an employer that values and respects its staff and provides an excellent working experience can sometimes be challenging. With millions of healthcare businesses operating in the United States, it’s not feasible that all of them will be top-tier.

So how can you ensure that you work for a great employer? We’ve put together some green flags to look out for. If your employer has one or more of them, then they’re worth working for!

Pexels – CC0 Licence

Good Workload Management

All healthcare professionals expect that their jobs will be stressful from time to time, but they certainly don’t want it to be unnecessarily stressful. Alas, that’s something that happens all too often when healthcare employers have poor staff-to-patient ratios or expect each employee to do the work of two people. A good employer will always ensure that there is enough staff on hand, pay well, and be open to listening to feedback from employees if there’s an issue.

Career Development Opportunities

Poor employers only care about what their employees can do for them; the best employers want to support their employees’ professional development. A good employer will provide ongoing training and help their staff members to develop their skills, ultimately allowing them to be the best healthcare workers that they can. Suppose an employer is offering a program like the Royal Ambulance Career Bridge Program or has educational assistance programs that provide tuition reimbursement. In that case, you’ll know that you’re working for a healthcare employer that wants you to succeed. Leading organizations also provide a pathway for employees to move into leadership roles, too. 

Good Online Reviews 

You can learn a lot from online reviews about what it’s like to work at a healthcare provider, including reviews from patients. If a patient leaves a negative review and mentions that the place seemed understaffed and that the employees seem stressed, then that’ll tell you a lot. On the other hand, if the facility has nothing but five-star reviews that mention how kind and caring the staff are, then that’ll be a pretty big indicator that there’s a good working environment. 

Low Employee Turnover

Finally, the best healthcare employers will have a low staff turnover rate. That is one of the most significant indicators that they’re an employer worth working for. If their staff is sticking with them for years on end, then it’s clear that the employer must be providing everything that their team is looking for. After all, as mentioned above, there’s no shortage of opportunities in the healthcare sector, so employees will have no problem finding another job if their employer falls short. On the other hand, if an employer has a high employee turnover rate, then that’ll be a sign that they’re best avoided!