Over the past four years, employee turnover rate skyrocketed to a new high, due to many people quitting or being laid off from their jobs. Yet despite employee turnover rate being lower than it was during the pandemic, there are still residual effects on different industries, particularly the healthcare field. When healthcare professionals leave their positions, the effects can be financially costly and affect overall hospital operations and outcomes. For example, a lack of hospital staff can increase waiting time for patients, create an overload of work for existing employees, and can negatively affect patient outcomes.
A recent graduate of Fairfield’s online MHA program, Francesca Lirosi (MS ‘24) decided to tackle this issue by organizing an internal career fair at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT this past February. This career fair was unique from other fairs: rather than focus on prospective employees it was focused on addressing healthcare labor shortages and professional development to boost retention of current employees.
The fair promoted different career pathways and educational opportunities for current employees within St. Vincent’s. Opportunities highlighted by exhibitors at the fair were various hospital departments that were hiring and local higher education institutions.
Lirosi took part in the organization of the fair as a part of the Practicum experience in Fairfield’s MHA program. Fairfield offers a unique online interdisciplinary MHA Program that leverages expertise in one comprehensive curriculum from the Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies and the Dolan School of Business, two nationally recognized schools. Students complete a 150-hour Practicum immersion in a healthcare organization with a qualified mentor. As emerging leaders, students are exposed to a variety of real-world experiences and challenges facing today’s healthcare industry. While engaging in the daily pace of healthcare operations, students are required to identify a healthcare problem of interest that will carry into the final capstone project. The capstone project integrates all the learning from the program with new understanding from the Practicum experience.
Lisa Sundean, the Director of the Healthcare Administration Program, expands on the Practicum experience explaining, “The rapid pace of connections between didactic courses and application to real world experiences in healthcare results in professional transformation and strong career readiness. More and more, MHA students are receiving career offers directly from the Practicum. This speaks to the quality of our students and healthcare partners, and the quality of our Fairfield faculty to deliver a high value program.” MHA students are supported in the program with expert faculty and through Fairfield’s extensive network within the healthcare industry, as they maintain connections with over 100 healthcare agencies, associations, and professionals.
After graduating in the Spring, Lirosi returned to the MHA program, however as an adjunct faculty member. “What I enjoy the most about being an instructor now is being able to relate to the students having myself just completed the MHA program. During my program I received a tremendous amount of mentorship, which was invaluable to me, and I'm hoping to give back to current and prospective students by being not only an instructor but also a mentor for them and help them achieve their career goals.”
Overall the career fair event was a tremendous success, surpassing expectations in attendance and providing a solution to the challenge of a high employee turnover rate. Lirosi graduated with her MHA during Commencement Exercises in May 2024 in the presence of her husband, their two sons, and her mother who came from Italy for the occasion.
