Optimizing healthcare staffing

Labor expenses comprise as much as 70 percent of the typical hospital’s operating budget, and the degree to which staffing and workflow challenges can negatively affect a hospital’s bottom line cannot be overstated. In the July/August 2009 Health Affairs, Dr Peter Buerhaus and coauthors found that, despite the current easing of the nursing shortage due to the recession, the US nursing shortage is projected to grow to 260,000 registered nurses by 2025. A shortage of this magnitude would be twice as large as any nursing shortage experienced in this country since the mid-1960s

“Healthcare staffing is complex, and intrinsically linked to quality, safety, staff and patient satisfaction, and financial performance.”
-Graham Barnes

Hospitals are continually challenged to find and retain good nurses. Not surprisingly, more than half of hospital labor costs are in nursing - a cost center rife with challenges that affect workflow efficiency, flexible staffing levels, job satisfaction, and nurse retention. Daily issues associated with over and understaffing, variable patient census and acuity, and staff mix tend to feed and perpetuate each other, leading to decreased quality of life for nurses and increased labor costs for the typical hospital.

So, how does a hospital tackle these kinds of challenges? While there are a number of links in the causal chain, one vital element for many hospitals lies in a sustainable workforce management system that motivates and engages staff, optimizes efficiency, and drives employee satisfaction while simultaneously improves labor costs. Internet-delivered workforce management systems allow hospitals to manage scheduling, open shift management, and patient acuity/assignment scheduling while raising quality of life factors such as home access, job satisfaction, fairness, and career development for nurses. In particular, staffing and scheduling options that give employees freedom to choose when and where they work have been shown to keep them happier and more productive, making the process of planning each week's schedule more engaging for nurses and leading to significant labor cost savings for hospitals.

Employers are finding that providing flexible options for employees is central to attracting new Gen Y nurses and retaining quality staff. For example, hospitals are seeing unprecedented benefits in the use of open shift management technology, where a hospital's open shifts are posted online and all nurses have simultaneous access from anywhere at any time to request to work available shifts at their hospital. By heightening awareness of staffing needs, organizations move from unit-based awareness to organization-wide awareness of work opportunities, and employees can become active participants in the solution. 

Many Concerro hospitals are seeing between 20 to 60 percent of their nurses volunteering to work on non-home units or hospitals within a health system. Workforce management systems should also promote continuity of care by filling shifts where possible with existing nurses who are already familiar with hospital policies and procedures. This alone can have a profound effect on patient outcomes and safety. Empowering qualified nurses with control and flexibility around their schedules makes them happier overall, while simultaneously serving as a sustainable optimization tool for hospitals.

Nurses are given the opportunity to work on new units where they are qualified, which helps them gain valuable experience and encourages nurses to expand their education and accreditation to further their careers. Providing career development support and opportunities to advance their skill sets through unit cross-training increases quality of life, boosts retention, and maximizes human resource management for the hospital.   

Optimizing the staffing function will require flexibility, technology and innovation. With the right staffing infrastructure, your organization will have a framework to make optimal human capital decisions while improving the quality of life for your staff. Leveraging your existing workforce translates into staffing continuity and quality of care for patients. There is no question that a happier staff is more loyal, performs better, lowers costs and improves patient care.

Biography

Graham Barnes is the CEO of Concerro Inc., and has over 25 years of experience in high tech services. He received a BSc (Hons) in Engineering from Imperial College, University of London, and an MBA (Beta Gamma Sigma) from Santa Clara University. For more information, visit www.concerro.com