Physical Therapy and the Gender Pay Gap

Though typically a female-dominated industry, a new report indicates that women PTs are still paid less than their male counterparts.

Despite being widely disputed by non-believers, there is no shortage of data showing that the gender pay gap is alive and well, with women being paid just 80% of what men are paid, on average. It seems that holds true in the physical therapy profession, as well.

Though typically a female-dominated industry, the 2018 State of Rehab Therapy report from WebPT shows that females are still earning less than their male counterparts. This is despite females now outpacing males in all leadership categories, except C-level executive roles, in which men out-represent women by only 9%. As reported by therapists themselves, more than half of the therapists who responded to the report indicated their salaries fell into the range of $50,000 to $90,000, with nearly a third falling into the $60,000 to $80,000 range. However, men were more significantly represented in the $70,001+ salary range, and females were more significantly represented in the salary range below $70,000. These findings are on par with the latest U.S. Census data from 2016, which showed that within the physical therapy occupation, women earn only 87.6% of their male equivalents’ salaries.

With more females in places of leadership within therapy practices around the country, these numbers may shift, in time. However, it is projected by the American Association of University Women that, as a whole, the gender pay gap across all industries is not expected to be closed until 2119.

These numbers, however, do not seem to be upsetting therapists too much, overall. According to the report, more than 60% of therapists who responded agreed that they liked being a therapist, which may indicate that success and satisfaction cannot only be measured by numbers.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Self-Care Tips for the Back-to-School Therapist

Take a look at a few helpful self-care tips for the busy school-based therapist. Because you can’t take care of others, if you don’t take care of yourself, first.

It’s that time again—with some schools across the country already back in session, and others headed back any day now, school-based therapists are likely feeling excited or overwhelmed, or some form of both. While you, as a well-educated therapy professional, are well versed in self-care, coping skills, and stress management in relation to your patients, you must remember to take care of yourself, as well. Here are some tips to make sure you stay centered, while the 2018-2019 schoolyear kicks into high gear.

Schedule Buffers into Your Day
A lot of being a school-based therapist revolves around structure and scheduling, but if you schedule things back-to-back-to-back, you’re bound to run yourself into the ground, and things will rarely go exactly as planned, anyhow. A session may run over time, or you may find yourself trapped in a conversation with a parent or coworker for far longer than you meant to. Leave yourself time to breathe—or run to the bathroom—between sessions, and you’ll be much better off.

Check in with Yourself
At the end of your day, check in with yourself in the form of some cognitive behavioral therapy, such as journaling. Research has shown that focusing on positive aspects of your day, and writing them down, can be greatly beneficial. Try making a list of three to five positive things that happened during your day, or that you and/or your students accomplished, before going to bed at night.

Unplug after Hours
It’s easy to get invested in your work. After all, you didn’t get into therapy because you don’t care. However, in caring for yourself, too, you need to leave work at work. Establish and maintain boundaries to keep yourself from burning out. Instead, fill your off hours with healthy hobbies or activities, such as gardening, cooking, or yoga, or even just treat yourself to a nice, long bath every now and then.

Remember, caring for yourself enables you to better care for others, so as the school year picks up speed and you find yourself busier and busier, step back, breathe, and get some rest. Everything is going to be okay.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

A Look at Healthcare Benefits for Hospital Employees

New findings show that hospitals are offering their employees fewer insurance options, and spending more per employee on healthcare benefits.

An annual survey from Aon, which collected data from nearly 250 hospitals and health systems in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, found that the average annual healthcare expense per employee has increased more than $2,000 in the last five years, climbing from $13,222 in 2013 to $15,519 in 2018.

The findings also indicate that hospitals are offering fewer insurance options to their employees, with 60% of the surveyed hospitals and health systems saying they only offer one or two insurance plans.

The survey also found that 49% offer employees a comprehensive and coordinated wellness program, and 54% offer a single paid time off pool arrangement, instead of offering separate sets of time off, such as vacation days and sick days.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The State of Healthcare Across the United States

Vermont is the best state for Americans to receive healthcare and Louisiana is the worst, according to a new survey. Do you work in a state in the top five? Or, worse, the bottom five?

Vermont is the best state for Americans to receive healthcare and Louisiana is the worst, according to a new survey from WalletHub. The findings, which were compiled using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research, and many other reputable sources, were determined by comparing the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 40 measures of cost, accessibility, and outcome, including variables such as hospital beds per capita, infant, child, and maternal mortality rates, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants per capita, cancer rates, share of non-immunized children, and more. States were graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the best possible healthcare available at the most reasonable cost. Below are the top five best and worst states and their scores, as found by the survey.

Top Five Best States for Healthcare

  1. Vermont (66.31/100)
  2. Massachusetts (65.31/100)
  3. New Hampshire (64.03/100)
  4. Minnesota (63.35/100)
  5. Hawaii (63.08/100)

Top Five Worst States for Healthcare

  1. Louisiana (41.14/100)
  2. Mississippi (41.53/100)
  3. Alaska (41.78/100)
  4. Arkansas (43.22/100)
  5. North Carolina (43.98/100)

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Best and Worst States to Be A Nurse

Maine is the top place to be a nurse, and D.C. is the worst, according to new survey results. Where does your state land on the list?

The nursing industry is alive and well, and it is expected to grow at more than double the rate of the average occupation through 2026. But where is it best, and worst, to be a nurse?

New findings from WalletHub, as determined by comparing the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 21 crucial metrics, including average salary, average starting salary, nursing job openings, patient ratios, and more, offer some insight. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most promising conditions to be a nurse.

Below are the top five best and worst states and their scores, as found by the survey, as well as other key findings.

Top Five Best Places to Be A Nurse

  1. Maine (62.96/100)
  2. Montana (62.07/100)
  3. Washington (61.41/100)
  4. Wyoming (61.31/100)
  5. New Mexico (61.11/100)

Top Five Worst Places to Be A Nurse

  1. District of Columbia (33.08/100)
  2. Hawaii (38.49/100)
  3. Vermont (44.88/100)
  4. Alabama (45.58/100)
  5. Louisiana (46.27/100)

Most Nursing Job Openings Per Capita: Vermont
Highest Annual Nursing Salary, Adjusted for Cost of Living: Arizona
Most Healthcare Facilities Per Capita: South Dakota
Lowest Competition by 2024: Nevada
Highest Percentage of Population Aged 65+ by 2030: Florida

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Defining Nursing Career Success on Your Own Terms

Your definition of a successful nursing career may look vastly different than that of your fellow nurses, and that is okay, because career success is a personal thing.

From Nurse Keith’s Digital Doorway

Every nurse and healthcare professional has the opportunity to define success in their own way. However, how many of us allow our nursing careers to be defined by someone else. How can we seize control of our careers and define success on our own terms?

Beyond a Cookie Cutter Career

At this time in your life, your definition of success may mean earning your Masters in Nursing by the time you’re 35 and your PhD or DNP by the time you’re 45. For one of your nurse colleagues, success may mean getting a BSN and finding a job that will pay the bills and put a child through college. For another, it’s taking a year off and traveling the globe on an around-the-world ticket. And why not?

There are many prescriptions for a successful nursing career, but cookie-cutter solutions are just approximations of what’s possible for you. What works for Jane the nurse doesn’t necessarily add up for Bill the nurse — Jane and Bill have different life histories, goals, professional experiences, family circumstances and responsibilities, so they each need to forge an individualized path forward.

Just because “they” say you need two years of med/surg before pursuing other opportunities doesn’t make that true for you. As a new grad, I skipped med/surg and acute care altogether and never looked back as I created a career focused on community health and home health nursing — did I miss out on some experiences? Sure. Do I care? Not really. It was my choice, and the consequences of that decision are mine to bear, whatever they may be.

Your Own Compass

When a hiker strikes off into the woods, they often use a compass (whether an old-fashioned version or an app) to keep from getting lost. All compasses universally point out where north, south, east, and west are, and the hiker can use those cardinal directions in concert with a detailed topographic map in order to make good decisions about where they’re heading.

Not so with a nursing or healthcare career — true north for one nurse is dead wrong for another. For most new grads, that first professional expedition out of school means marching right into an acute care position — that’s true north in many cases. But for us nurse iconoclasts, rebels, and black sheep, we may very well turn around and march in a completely opposite direction than our peers, and that’s OK.

Wherever you happen to be in your nursing career, it’s your responsibility to find your own compass and solicit the drummer who will play the beat that moves your feet towards your own definition of success.

Defining Your Success

In order to take the bull by the horns and define success on your own terms, you need to know what you think and feel. This may seem rudimentary, but many of us allow ourselves to be buffeted by the winds of opinion that others force on us. We may also be influenced by our peers’ choices, even if they themselves don’t tell us what we should be choosing or doing.

Knowing what you truly think and feel necessitates exploring your motivations, goals, and desires, as well as identifying the preconceived notions that you brought to your professional nursing career. We all have career baggage, as well as self-judgments that hold us back and keep us from making choices that are truest to our nature.

These questions (and others, of course) may hopefully lead to further exploration and the uncovering of what you really want:

  • What are my greatest strengths? What do I bring to the table as a nurse and healthcare professional?
  • What are my “weaknesses”? Where do I need to bolster my knowledge, expertise, and/or experience?
  • What are the things that are potential threats to my success and happiness? (e.g.: Do I lack motivation? Am I going through a difficult divorce? Do I have medical or mental health conditions that impact me negatively at home or at work? Is a lot of my energy taken up by caring for an elderly parent or disabled loved one?)
  • What opportunities are out there just waiting for me to seize them?
  • Who do I know who might be a good networking connection?
  • What are past experiences that can lead to new opportunities in the future?

Staying Focused

Many factors will influence what we do in our nursing careers over time. If your personal circumstances change (e.g.: divorce, marriage, birth of a child, etc), you may need to make some adjustments in your work schedule. If your hospital is bought by a big corporation and heads are rolling left and right, you may need to abandon ship before things get really bad.

Threats, opportunities, and stuff that just plain happens may cause you to lose focus and deviate from a very clear career plan. These abrupt turns can be advantageous happy accidents, but they can also lead you unhappily astray.

Staying focused means you consciously choose to keep your eyes on the prize, maintain the integrity of your plans, and simultaneously be open to serendipity and the unknown. An open mind will serve you best in just about all situations.

Know Thyself

Creating a nursing career on your own terms calls on you to know yourself as well as possible. The aforementioned advice is just the tip of the iceberg: find coaches, mentors, counselors, therapists, colleagues, and/or accountability partners who can listen well, hold your feet to the fire, question your motivations, and otherwise be there when you’re at your strongest or your weakest.

Dig deep and get to know yourself. If you do nothing else, self-reflection and increased self-knowledge will benefit every aspect of your life, not to mention your relationships with those around you.

Defining your nursing career on your own terms isn’t rocket science, but it’s also not as simple as it seems. Do the work, put in the sweat equity, and you’ll be rewarded with self-knowledge, self-confidence, and an understanding of what makes you tick in both your personal and professional lives. The rest is icing on the cake.


Keith Carlson, RN, BSN, NC-BC, is the Board Certified Nurse Coach behind NurseKeith.com and the well-known nursing blog, Digital Doorway. Please visit his online platforms and reach out for his support when you need it most.

Keith is co-host of RNFMRadio.com, a wildly popular nursing podcast; he also hosts The Nurse Keith Show, his own podcast focused on career advice and inspiration for nurses.

A widely published nurse writer, Keith is the author of “Savvy Networking For Nurses: Getting Connected and Staying Connected in the 21st Century,” and has contributed chapters to a number of books related to the nursing profession. Keith has written for Nurse.com, Nurse.org, MultiViews News Service, LPNtoBSNOnline, StaffGarden, AusMed, American Sentinel University, the ANA blog, Working Nurse Magazine, and other online publications.

Mr. Carlson brings a plethora of experience as a nurse thought leader, online nurse personality, podcaster, holistic career coach, writer, and well-known successful nurse entrepreneur. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with his lovely and talented wife, Mary Rives.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

The Best States to Be a Physician, Money-Wise

“Physician” is ranked as the most popular profession within the top 1% of earners, but where is it best, and worst, to practice medicine, according to your wallet.

Being a physician is a lucrative business, without question, and the high-paying salary is well deserved, given how hard physicians work to save and improve lives and the demands that come with the profession. But where does it make the most and least sense, financially, to practice medicine?

New findings from WalletHub, as determined by comparing the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 16 crucial metrics, including average salary, average starting salary, hospitals per capita, current and projected competition, CME requirements, and more, offer some insight. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for practicing doctors.

Below are the top five best and worst states and their scores, as found by the survey, as well as other key findings.

Top Five Best Places to Practice Medicine

  1. South Dakota (75.97/100)
  2. Nebraska (70.66/100)
  3. Idaho (70.64/100)
  4. Iowa (70.16/100)
  5. Minnesota (69.94/100)

Top Five Worst Places to Practice Medicine

  1. New Jersey (40.24/100)
  2. Rhode Island (40.86/100)
  3. New York (41.39/100)
  4. Hawaii (43.25/100)
  5. District of Columbia (45.75/100)

Highest Average Annual Wage for Physicians, Adjusted for Cost of Living: Mississippi
Lowest Projected Competition by 2024: Idaho
Least Punitive State Medical Boards: Maine
Lowest Malpractice Award Payout Amount per Capita: Wisconsin
Least Expensive Annual Malpractice Liability Insurance: Nebraska

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Physicians Are Burning out, but Unlikely to Seek Help

Despite more than half of physicians surveyed admitting they have experienced burnout, 67% said they have never met with a mental health professional.

Physician burnout is a deeply alarming and widespread problem in healthcare. We don’t have to tell you, however. According to a recent study conducted by locumstory, the chances are incredibly high that you, as a physician, have seen your fellow physicians experiencing it, or you have felt the effects of it, firsthand.

In a survey of more than 3,700 physicians, located in nearly every region of the country and working in nearly every specialty and setting, 74% of physicians reported seeing symptoms of burnout in their colleagues, while 52% personally admitted to feeling burnt out, and that same percentage (52%) stated that they believe burnout is affecting their job performance. The top two specialties that admitted to seeing burnout in themselves and reported it was affecting their job performance were emergency medicine and psychiatry. Surgeons were the least likely to report feeling burnt out.

The most common burnout symptoms reported were irritability and apathy, and about half of physicians also reported feeling chronic fatigue, as well as impaired memory and attention. A staggering 6% of those surveyed admitted that they have contemplated suicide because of the demands of their profession, and more than 10% said they take medication for anxiety or depression, most of which having claimed their profession contributed to their anxiety or depression.

Even though more than half of those surveyed reported that they have experienced burnout, and 6% admitted suffering suicidal thoughts, physicians are not seeking help. Despite 51% reporting that their workload had impacted their mental health, only 17% of physicians surveyed said they have met with a mental health professional, and even less (16%) have considered it. 67% said they have never met with a mental health professional. One reason for this could be explained by another finding of the study: more than half of physicians (53%) agreed that mental health is a taboo issue.

There is hope, however. Last year, the AMA announced they were adopting a new policy aimed at improving physician and medical student access to mental health care. The new policy is structured around helping reduce stigma associated with mental health illness that could unfairly impact a physician’s ability to obtain a medical license and impede physicians and medical students from receiving care. Additionally, the AMA’s Steps Forward Program, part of their Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability initiative, which launched in 2011, is a resource designed to improve the health and well-being of patients by improving the health and well-being of physicians and their practices through a series of practice transformation modules.

Most physicians build their careers around saving lives, or at the very least, improving them. That needs to apply to themselves, as well. If you are a physician who is experiencing burn out, we encourage you to consider looking into the Steps Forward Program further, as well as seeking appropriate mental health care. Your lives, and the lives of your patients, depend on it.

To explore mental health resources available to you, please visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help/index.shtml.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Harness the Power of Neuroscience to Make Learning (or Teaching) Medicine More Efficient

Advanced practitioners are continually learning, from completing annual CME to hands-on education through daily practice, but medical education does not have to be so hard.

By Jordan G Roberts, PA-C

Perhaps you’ve heard the saying that getting a medical education is akin to sipping water from a fire hose on full blast. There is so much information to learn and so little time in which to learn it all. This affects each of us at all levels of training, from the student to clinician to academician.

If you’re a student, you may relate to the feeling of just trying to keep your head above water. It’s all too easy to drown in information or fall behind if you miss an important lecture or even a single day of studying. It’s even harder at this level because every concept, disease, medication name is completely new and foreign to you.

As practicing clinicians, we need to ensure we are obtaining a certain amount of ongoing, accredited continuing medical education every year. It’s all too easy to fall into the trap of doing things they’ve always been done when you don’t keep up as much as you’d like.

And of course, as an educator, it’s almost inevitable that some of the time you’ll struggle to find ways to help certain students academically. How does one teach another to efficiently retain and understand the important concepts crucial to patient care itself?

There is good news. Medical education does not have to be so hard. Researchers and everyday people have been developing and refining a technique that can take anyone’s memory to almost superhuman levels.

And it’s not hype. Peer-reviewed studies have shown this technique to be incredibly successful as well as easy to learn and implement. One trial showed that medical students retained more information in a shorter time period and improved their test scores by a significant margin.

It’s so successful in fact, that there are entire groups of ‘memory athletes’ who compete across the globe to determine who has the strongest hippocampus in the world.

Read More →


Jordan G Roberts, PA-C helps medical education companies create and distribute the best medical education around. He helps students and clinicians improve their clinical game by using his background in neuroscience to teach simple ways to learn complex medical topics. He is a published researcher, national speaker, and medical writer. He can be found at Modern MedEd where he promotes clinical updates, medical writing, and medical education.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.

Advanced Practitioners Bolster Practice Revenue, Productivity

Primary care practices with a non-physician provider to physician ratio of 0.41 or greater reported earnings of $100K+ more in healthcare revenue per physician.

A recent report from the Medical Group Management Association, which compiled data from 2,900 organizations, shows that primary care practices that employ a higher number of non-physician providers, such as physician assistants and nurse practitioners, generate greater healthcare revenue, as well as increase productivity. The 2018 MGMA DataDive Cost and Revenue report showed that physician-owned primary care practices earned $100,749 more in healthcare revenue per physician, and hospital-owned primary care practices earned $131,770 more in revenue per physician, by employing more non-physician providers, specifically a non-physician provider to physician ratio of 0.41 or greater. The data revealed that primary care practice operating expenses are increasing, as well, and have grown 13% since 2013, from $391,798 per physician to $441,559 per physician, which makes the added revenue from employing advanced practitioners essential. The data shows that leveraging physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other non-physician providers could help medical practices overcome the growing burden of higher operating expenses, while also improving access to care and patient satisfaction.

Disclaimer: The viewpoint expressed in this article is the opinion of the author and is not necessarily the viewpoint of the owners or employees at Healthcare Staffing Innovations, LLC.