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Administration
Concurrent

Smart Strategies for Addressing the Workforce Crisis in Critical Care

Sunday, March 22, 2026
3:15 PM - 4:15 PM Central Time
Location: W181

In a post-pandemic world, workforce shortages are at an all-time high. Clinicians of all disciplines are leaving the bedside in search of better work/life balance, better work conditions, and higher pay. Trainees are unionizing. In some parts of the world, talented critical care professionals are leaving their own countries in search of better working conditions elsewhere—the brain drain phenomenon. This session will explore the workforce crisis currently faced by ICU leaders around the world, considering the problems of today and the solutions of tomorrow.

Learning Objectives:

  • Outline the reasons for the current workforce shortage, addressing declines in hospital employment, global staffing challenges across specialties, and the post-pandemic mental health of the workforce
  • Detail the international phenomenon of brain drain and how it contributes to workforce shortages in resource-limited areas, including establishing patient care and financial implications of a migratory workforce
  • Develop a concrete multimodal approach to the workforce crisis to mitigate the effects of a shifting workforce, addressing waterfall chasers and brain drain

Presentations:

  • 3:20 PM - 3:35 PM Central Time
    Moving Too Fast: Speeding Along the Workforce Pipeline

    Kristen Nelson, ACNP, MBA – MedStar Washington Hospital Center

  • 3:35 PM - 3:50 PM Central Time
    Your Way or Nothing at All: Brain Drain and the Global Workforce Migration

    Jorge Luis Hidalgo, MD, MACP,MCCM (he/him/his) – Belize Healthcare Partners Limited

  • 3:50 PM - 4:05 PM Central Time
    The Rest Is up to Me and You: Battling the Workforce Crisis

    Rachel L. Choron, MD, FACS – Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School