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In today’s world, many healthcare facilities are struggling to keep enough nurses on staff. The demand for nursing skills continues to rise. Meanwhile, not enough people are choosing to train for nursing roles.
As facilities grow increasingly short-staffed, too many current nurses are feeling overworked and burnt out. Some nurses are even choosing to leave the field altogether. If you’re in charge of staffing at a medical facility, you may have been struggling with nurse staffing for quite a while now.
At LG Resources, we understand medical employers’ struggles to fill nursing vacancies. We’ve found a few effective ways to help your facility attract enough nurses to provide consistent, high-quality care.
1. Improve Employee Benefits
Employee benefits are extremely important to today’s workforce, including many nurses. It’s hard to attract qualified nurses without competitive compensation, including strong salaries, good health insurance, and retirement plans.
You may be able to attract more talent with extra benefits like tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment assistance, and childcare assistance. Not every nurse can use these benefits, but the ones who do will deeply appreciate them. These kinds of benefits often decide whether and how long a nurse works for you. By helping employees with their financial and family-related needs, you can attract more nurses with the skills you need.
If you’re looking for help setting up an employee benefits program, reach out to LG Resources today. We can help you find the right solutions to attract and retain talent while qualifying for employer tax credits.
2. Foster a Positive Work Environment
A positive work environment encourages your staff to not only stay longer, but also refer their friends to your open positions. It’s easier to retain and recruit nurses if you have open communication, support, resources to address workplace challenges, and a decent work-life balance.
Employees feel a greater sense of belonging and commitment in the right work environment. Your medical facility may be able to reduce nurse staffing challenges by fostering a sense of appreciation and support.
3. Offer Flexible Scheduling Options
Like everyone else, nursing professionals have lives outside of work. Many need to schedule their work around family responsibilities and other needs. Not everyone is willing to sacrifice their personal life just because their employer needs to fill shifts; forcing nurses to pick up too many unwanted shifts might lead them to quit.
It’s hard to provide flexible scheduling when you’re already short-staffed. Nevertheless, it pays off to make schedules more flexible when you can. The right scheduling practices will make it easier to recruit and retain talented nurses.
Offering shift differentials, allowing nurses to choose their preferred shifts, and letting nurses work part-time if desired may help you keep staff. With more flexibility, you can attract more skilled nurses and retain valuable staff members who have personal obligations.
4. Offer Career Advancement Opportunities
Many nurses want a clear path to career growth. You may see better nurse retention and more interest from qualified job seekers if you have a strong career development program. Your organization could help nurses pursue higher education, specialize, or take on leadership roles within your organization.
By nurturing their professional goals, you can encourage loyalty and give nurses a greater sense of fulfillment. Your other employees will appreciate these opportunities as well.
5. Create Nurse Retention Programs
Retention programs that go beyond career advancement can help you retain experienced nurses for longer, which will further reduce the need to hire. These programs can reward nurses and other staff for loyalty, improve the work environment, encourage work-life balance, or all of the above.
It’s best to get feedback from current and leaving nurses about what they want to see more of at your facility. The nurses on staff will appreciate that you care! The right program may help them avoid burnout and feel motivated to stay longer. With fewer nurses leaving, you won’t need to hire as often.
6. Strengthen Relationships with Nursing Schools
It’s easier to recruit nurses if you have strong partnerships with local nursing schools and educational institutions. You may want to collaborate with schools to offer internships, clinical rotations, and preceptorship programs.
By building relationships with nursing students early on, you can attract top talent and create a pipeline of future nurses for your facility.
7. Improve Your Onboarding and Orientation Programs
Onboarding and orientation can set the foundation for nurse-employer relationships. With a good onboarding program, you can get those relationships off to a good start so that nurses are more likely to stay longer.
Ideally, your facility should provide comprehensive training, mentorship, and resources for new hires. They may need guidance and support during their transition period so they can acclimate to their roles and feel confident in their abilities.
8. Prioritize Workforce Planning
If you run a major facility, you should build a workforce planning strategy. You can draw insights from past data to anticipate future staffing needs and fluctuations in patient volume.
By taking a proactive approach to workforce planning, you can minimize the impact of the nurse staffing shortage, stay ahead of future gaps, and maintain a stable nursing workforce.
9. Work With a Nurse Staffing Agency
Staffing agencies have access to a vast pool of qualified nurses, including registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), certified nursing assistants (CNAs), and more. These agencies streamline the recruiting and placement process, giving you a quick turnaround for filling vacancies.
Partnering with a reputable nurse staffing agency like LG Resources can give you a reliable solution to your staffing challenges. Our team is committed to helping you find the skilled nurses and other professionals you need. With the right help, you can overcome most staffing obstacles.
Contact us today to explore how our staffing solutions can help you secure the best nursing talent and ensure quality patient care. Together, we can staff your healthcare facility and build a thriving team of nurses.
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