Software as an enabler to help solve the staffing crisis in healthcare
Building a Flex Nursing and Physician workforce system through technology is going to be the key lever for health systems if they want to remain safe in terms of adequate numbers of staff for patient care but also to be competitive in the gig economy.
“Software platforms like CliniShift has enabled staffing managers to develop their internal groups of staff by skill set or department.”
Flexibility is one of the most sought-after offerings in attracting and retaining the nursing workforce. However, the ability to build flexibility into nursing workforce programs is a lot easier said than done due to the complexity of the practice environment. Recent data indicates that the scales of power have shifted, and the employees are now in the driver’s seat with a new set of expectations around flexibility and autonomy regarding their desired way of working. Health care is a leading sector in the great reshuffle, with more than 8% of positions open in health care, just behind hotels and restaurants with 9% open positions.Additionally, the most recent NSI Nursing Solutions report reveals hospitals nationwide are struggling to recruit and retain nursing talent, experiencing an 18.7% RN turnover rate and a 9.9% RN vacancy rate. Medium-sized hospitals face the highest average turnover at 22.9%.Hospitals are facing the biggest hiring and staff retention challenges, and nurse managers are tasked with having to be innovative to try to solve this problem. A flexible nursing workforce ecosystem that is operational, efficient, and consistently meeting staffing needs, while also fulfilling the scheduling needs of the employee is the ultimate goal. From my experience of visiting hospitals around the United States over the past 5 years, the consensus is that nurses are resistant to change especially when it comes to technology implementation. Therefore breaking down these barriers and educating our healthcare professionals about the benefits that technology brings. There are several real concerns for hospitals when it comes to workforce or manpower shortages and unless healthcare leaders start to think strategically about these staff shortages in innovative ways and develop robust contingencies, the future is going to be challenging. Some of the initiatives that CliniShift have introduced into their enterprise software solution and which have added real value to hospitals in the short to medium term are the following……
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