Experienced Chief Executive Officer of Actriv Healthcare with a demonstrated history of working in the staffing and recruiting industry.
Last October, Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue received a 911 call—from a hospital, of all places. The hospital wasn’t on fire, but the nurses on call were in distress. Due to staffing shortages, only five nurses were present to treat the 45 patients in the waiting room. If the first responders could stop by to perform a few standard tasks—like taking vitals and cleaning beds—the nurses would have time to treat more patients and reduce potentially life-threatening wait times.
The question looms: How did we get here?
In 2020, we praised our nurses and healthcare workers, holding them up as heroes in a time of crisis. They faced unimaginable—and largely unknown—danger each time they entered the workplace. We promised to hear their calls for more PPE and better working conditions. Among the general public, however, this dialogue has since died down. But even though we haven’t been giving them as much space to share their concerns, nurses are still calling for these conversations.
Paired with harsh working conditions, the national nursing shortage has led to burnout throughout the industry. How can we prevent this? I believe an important step is giving nurses an opportunity and a platform to share their needs, and then actually meeting them. In turn, we’ll have better-performing nurses and better healthcare overall.
Let’s dive into some of the ways we can get ahead of these issues.
1. Acknowledge the burnout problem.
We are in a crisis. The nursing shortage gets closer to being short by 1 million nurses with each passing day. Fewer than 1 in 8 nurses are happy with their current state of employment. The first step to relieving the shortage is admitting the problem.
Healthcare leaders desperately need to start having dialogues to start finding solutions and accelerating how fast we can solve this crisis. Our nurses are hurting. We have to talk about it.
2. Offer more flexibility.
Offering more flexibility in scheduling may be key. Nurses, like anyone, want more say over their calendars. And since they don’t always have predictable schedules, giving them more autonomy over their schedules could improve their quality of life while ensuring that the nurses at work each day want to be there.
3. Work with nurse staffing companies.
Another viable solution is using travel nurses and staffing companies. Staffing companies can help ensure hospitals are well staffed and prepared for their workload by pairing them with a wide pool of nurses with varied skills and certifications. (Full disclosure: My company offers this service, as do others.)
4. Change the legislature.
Right now, some challenges in staffing come from guidelines that dictate where and how nurses can work in different facilities. Throwing a couple of dollars at healthcare facilities isn’t enough; we need better policies that allow nurses to work with more flexibility and staff to support them.
An airline pilot can work in any state they choose, but nurses are very restricted depending on which state they earn their license in. Currently, each state has different requirements for the practice, making it very difficult for nurses to live and practice elsewhere. These policies weren’t a problem when we had enough nurses in our healthcare facilities, but the issue has been magnified as we wait to fill those open spots.
With the right legislation in place, we can standardize certification requirements. If healthcare was managed at the federal level as opposed to the state level, nurses could have more potential to work as they travel—both short- and long-term.
The nursing shortage doesn’t exist globally. Why aren’t we reaching out to countries with an excess of nurses? The U.S.’s current legislation creates barriers against foreign nurses who are trained, skilled and capable of assisting in mitigating our shortage. We could greatly benefit from a change in legislation that opens our doors to nurses.
5. Listening to nurses is critical.
Recently, I had the honor of talking to National Quality Award recipients. These are clinicians who provide the care we hope to see across American facilities. “What is the biggest contributor to your success?” I asked these nurses. “How do you minimize burnout?”
They told me they were successful because the administrations of their workforces listened to them. Where they worked, clinicians were the priority. By having these conversations and valuing clinicians, these facilities could discover innovative ways to engage their workforces. These clinicians show up to work, live out their passion for caregiving and, most importantly, go home and live their lives.
As a result, the facilities developed great partnerships with contingent talent and integrated those contingent employees into their ecosystem. Clinicians within these thriving facilities typically feel more immersed in their culture and the facility’s overall success. They feel prioritized. Leadership is present 24 hours a day, seven days a week, helping nurses through the obstacle they face. Patient care becomes the priority in that environment—and the overall job becomes less taxing. Burnout is less prevalent, and nurses are more successful with their day-to-day tasks.
These actions may not change the face of nursing overnight, but they could help prevent staffing shortages while affording our current nurses some much-needed relief. The sooner healthcare leaders start prioritizing nurses and recognizing their struggles, the sooner everyone can come together, have conversations and discover solutions.
Let’s get creative.
Imagine a world where nurses feel heard, valued, and empowered and the healthcare system thrives—not only because of the latest technology but also because of the ideas, feedback and well-being of the nurses who work tirelessly to provide care to patients.
We must break free from the traditional mold. Let’s tap into the collective brilliance and creativity of our nurses and give them a platform to share their ideas. Let’s acknowledge that the current healthcare system is facing a crisis and it’s time to come together and think creatively to find solutions. We can work together to build a brighter future for our nurses, our patients and our healthcare system as a whole.
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