Explore the latest healthcare workforce trends and strategies in our Knowledge Center. Each week, we provide actionable insights and expert tips to help industry professionals stay informed and enhance your workforce management with our up-to-date content.
Hospitals have long struggled to build and manage internal nurse float pools effectively, often depending on manual processes and outdated tools like Excel. These practices hinder effective scheduling coordination, credential tracking, and real-time responses to staffing changes, resulting in costly, inefficient, and hard-to-scale float pool management. Sound familiar?
With more shifts and fewer nurses to fill them, healthcare facilities face significant staffing problems. And facilities that require nurses to work longer and harder shouldn't be surprised when they experience an increase in absenteeism and a decrease in dependability—not to mention poorer patient outcomes. Here's a playlist on how your healthcare facility can improve the reliability of its nursing staff.
Continuity of care is a cornerstone of effective healthcare delivery, particularly within the demanding environments of hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. This crucial aspect of patient care ensures seamless transitions between healthcare providers, fosters comprehensive treatment plans, and ultimately leads to improved patient outcomes.
While there was already a shortage of skilled nursing staff and other healthcare workers prior to the pandemic, the past three years have pushed the shortage to critical levels. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there are 2.1 million job openings in healthcare, which is expected to grow to 3.2 million by 2026 as baby boomers age and require more care.
Understaffing and unsustainable patient loads strained the nursing profession long before COVID—the pandemic just compounded the problem. That's why today's nurses suffer from burnout and struggle with their mental health like never before.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed light on the critical role that healthcare workers play in our society, but it has also highlighted the risks of workforce instability in healthcare facilities. This instability can have significant budget implications, affect the quality of patient care, and lead to staff burnout and turnover. Furthermore, healthcare facilities face legal and regulatory risks if they fail to maintain a stable workforce.
The healthcare industry is facing a severe nursing shortage, and the impact of this crisis is being felt across the board. The shortage affects health systems in many ways, but one of the most significant impacts is operating budgets. As health systems struggle to maintain staffing levels, they rely on expensive agency contracts and travel nurses, contributing to budget instability. At the same time, labor costs continue to rise, making it challenging to maintain a balanced budget.
