Healthcare Staffing Trends for 2014
The need for highly skilled and experienced nurses will continue to rise in 2014, but it will not be any easier for healthcare facilities to find the people they need. A CareerBuilder study found that 48% of nursing jobs and 39% of allied health jobs go unfilled for about 6 weeks. Over 20% go unfilled for 12 – plus weeks.
This puts a huge strain on current staff members who have to pick up the slack. Morale plummets, patients get less attention, more mistakes are made and the risk of lawsuits increases.
One risk that is increased turnover. By leaving key staff job unfilled, you are in jeopardy of losing more of your remaining staff. This is one of the costs that are difficult to quantify.
Skilled hospital staff can find jobs elsewhere, and there is absolutely no reason for them to remain in a facility where they are overworked to the point of exhaustion. When your current staff is expected to “pick up the slack” and do the work of the vacant position, frustration levels rise. Long hours become the norm, vacations are forfeited, and training and conference opportunities are lost.
Soon, there becomes very little reason for other staff members to stay.
Within the nursing profession, this dynamic has reached critical levels. According to the U.S. Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast, a shortage of registered nurses is projected to spread across the country between 2009 and 2030. Projections from the Heath Resources and Services Administration state that the nursing shortage will grow to more than 1 million by 2020. This is due the aging nursing population, other available career options, rising patient volume, workload, etc.
The solution to this problem is two-fold. Medical facilities have long relied on the temporary staffing model to meet staffing level requirements. This can continue to be a strong solution while the facility continues to search for a full-time staff member.
However, medical organizations need to take a page from the books of their business counterparts and being using proactive recruitment strategy that focus on building pipelines, including ones that focus on building pathways to newly graduated nursing students.
This is where Snelling Medical Professionals can help. We offer the best of both worlds to our healthcare clients. We have the local know-how of your particular job market plus the nationwide recruiting arm to find you the best talent for your open job …right now. While you look, we can provide skilled, experienced temporary nursing and allied professionals. So call us today. Visit the Snelling website to find your local Medical Professionals office and let’s get started.
By Christiane Soto, 
