Nurses are the backbone of healthcare.They are the first and most prominent line of contact with patients. When health care systems experience nursing shortages, it impacts every aspect of patient care. One of the best ways to improve the efficiency of a hospital system is to invest in the supply of nurses.
This means developing a pipeline of talent that can sustain the entire industry for generations to come. It also means focusing on support systems that keep existing nurses around.
In this article, we take a look at what these investments look like and how they can be effectively implemented.
Overview
The majority of hospitals in the United States are short at least a few nurses, and this figure fails to fully represent the extent of the problem.
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The issue is felt far more acutely, for example, in rural health care systems than it is in urban ones. Add to this problem the fact that the average new nurse will last about five years in the profession before churning out to an entirely different career path, and a real crisis begins to clarify.
It’s hard to get nurses, and seemingly even harder to keep them. The high turnover rate and ongoing recruitment issues that have been plaguing the healthcare industry for decades now are creating efficiency bottlenecks and delays of care that are having a very direct impact on patient outcomes.
Investing more heavily in nursing recruitment and education is a good way to reverse this problem. However, simply developing a pipeline is not enough. The efforts need to be carefully targeted to attract the right kind of people.
What Do We Mean by the Right Kind of People?
In this case, it means nurses who will stick around for the long haul. It’s always nice when newly minted nurses begin their career journey, but when they churn out after one, two, three, or four years, the actual impact they make in their healthcare system often inadvertently does more harm than good.
It’s very difficult for hospitals to experience constant churn. Not only does it result in inconsistent access to care on the patient side, but it can also lead to higher rates of burnout and turnover among more established nurses.
The longer a hospital goes short-staffed, the more strain is placed on the people who do stick around. Eventually, this can lead to nurses who never had any intention of leaving moving on to different career opportunities.
The good news is that better recruitment strategies are very accessible now in an age of big data. It’s easier than ever for university recruiters to identify characteristics in students who are most likely to remain in the system and contribute actively for decades to come.
Some of this investment can take the form of improved grant and scholarship opportunities.
This is a relatively common method of attracting people to much-in-need services that are currently understaffed.
It’s particularly worth recruitment campaigns that appeal to demographics traditionally ignored by the nursing profession. This includes ethnic minorities, but it also includes men. By expanding the target demographics, nursing recruitment strategies can be more specific in how they make their appeal while still broadening the scope of their search.
Beyond Entry-Level Positions
It’s also important for healthcare systems to invest in nursing education that extends beyond entry-level positions.
There is an increasing reliance on advanced practice nurses being used as a way to eliminate healthcare bottlenecks and expand access to specialized care.
Advanced practice nursing positions can vary pretty substantially, but one of the most common and popular routes is to become a nurse practitioner.
Nurse practitioners share many of the same responsibilities as doctors. In some states, they are able to write prescriptions, establish diagnoses, and consult with patients on their long-term health goals.
An added bonus? Organizations that invest in career advancement for their professionals have a much higher rate of retention. There are a few common factors that increase a person’s likelihood of staying satisfied with their job. These include:
- Finding fulfillment in their work: This is something that most nurses can already claim. Job fulfillment is what attracts most people to nursing in the first place. Unfortunately, it is not always enough to keep them in the job.
- Receiving a comfortable salary: Standard nursing salaries are not insignificant, but they are relatively stagnant. Pay raises are scheduled and based on seniority over aptitude. However, nurses can often increase their earning potential through advanced degrees and certifications.
- Autonomy: Nurses have considerably less autonomy than doctors, but many advanced practice positions give them more freedom and flexibility.
- Career mobility. Again, career development is an often elusive feature of nursing. Without acquiring new credentials, there is little opportunity for nurses to enhance the trajectory of their careers.
How can hospitals invest in nursing career advancement? One of the best ways is to provide tuition support for nurses interested in continuing their education.
It’s a Long Term-Investment
What do all of these strategies have in common? None of them are particularly fast. The best recruitment strategy in the world will take seven to eight years to begin bearing fruit, while an increased investment in career advancement will take five or more years to create results.
There are more short-term solutions available. For example, many hospitals are investing in mental health support resources, experimenting with flexible scheduling options, and working to increase nurses’ salaries.
Ultimately, it will take a combination of factors to make a true and lasting difference in the world of healthcare.
The problems that our hospitals are facing cannot be solved tomorrow. However, with effort and attention, the future of healthcare in the United States can still be bright.
