How to Reinforce, Expand the Home Healthcare Nursing Workforce

As home healthcare solidifies into a fixture of the healthcare system, payers and providers need to consider how they will support the present and future home healthcare nursing workforce. As home healthcare expanded during the coronavirus pandemic, the home healthcare nursing workforce had to grow with it. As the nation emerges from the pandemic, healthcare leaders must discern how to retain and develop this field. After nearly 35 years as a registered nurse working in various environments from acute care to long-term care, Kathy Driscoll, senior vice president and chief nursing officer at Humana Inc., told Healthcare Strategies that she has learned some of her best nursing lessons in the home healthcare space. But this practice is facing major challenges in the 2020s. The first problem is keeping present home healthcare nurses in the home healthcare workforce. The second problem is effectively investing in the student pipeline to supplement the home healthcare nursing workforce as burnt-out and retiring nurses leave the field.