Trustaff provided this article.
It is Allied Week! This week, allied healthcare professionals across the country will clock in for their shifts as they normally do, and patients won’t be the wiser. As life ebbs and flows, we generally try to stay out of the hospital, and because of this, we, the patients, tend to ignore the medical intricacies that we see. If you ask the average person what a nurse or a doctor is, they can probably provide some satisfactory answers.
But what about a phlebotomist? What about a sonographer or a physical therapist? The people who fill these roles are just as vital to our healthcare industry, and yet many fly under the radar. These individuals make up the allied healthcare community, and this week is their week to shine.
What is Allied Week?
Allied Week became a way to recognize the significant contributions of allied professionals, such as Nurses Week, which celebrates the nursing community as a whole. Allied was initially a scattered assortment of healthcare careers that were not tied together. However, in 1967, chartered institutions that represented the individual specialties came together and created the umbrella that is today allied. This group of institutions helped to pass the Allied Health Professions Personnel Training Act in 1966, which spearheaded funding for allied careers, greatly increasing the number of allied professionals in the workforce.
The first full week of November is dedicated to recognizing the immense impact allied health professionals have on our healthcare industry. Encompassing more than 80 different professions like the ones mentioned above, this week celebrates a group of people who oversee everything from health systems management to diagnostic evaluation, rehabilitation, disease treatment, and more. Like nursing, which covers a vast range of specialties, allied healthcare touches every level of our healthcare industry.
Allied’s enduring impact
Over 60% of healthcare workers are classified as allied professionals, and these individuals go above and beyond to improve patient well-being. Nurses and doctors turn to their allied team for their specialized knowledge in radiation, cardiopulmonary, laboratory, and therapeutic care when they need to make potentially life-saving determinations for a patient.
Mitigating Allied burnout
It is important that we highlight and uplift our allied community. Similarly to the nursing community, the covid pandemic saw a mass exodus of allied professionals leaving the bedside. This, in tandem with an aging population and a shrinking supply of new grads, has caused stark shortages across the country. The National Center for Health Workforce Analysis (NCHWA) predicts a shortage of over 100,000 allied professionals within the next 15 years. It is imperative that allied professionals feel supported and acknowledged so we can mitigate the effects of staff shortages.
How we celebrate Allied’s impact
In honor of the incredible contributions of allied travelers, agencies, facilities, and institutions of higher learning, celebrate Allied Week with giveaways, testimonials, acknowledgment, and lectures to promote open dialogue among allied professionals. Even though the Allied sits under a large umbrella, the Allied community as a whole is a significant driver of the healthcare industry. It is important that the community is being fostered by facilities and agencies to best take care of a group that does so much to take care of us. So be curious. Ask an allied professional about their career, why they took the plunge, and what they enjoy about being an allied professional.
As Allied Week endures, don’t forget to give those individuals in the allied community a shout-out and a pat on the back so they know they are needed and they are appreciated. Happy Allied Week!
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