The pace of change in the 21st century can be daunting, but it definitely has advantages. Nurse staffing apps help you jump in and find your way around the fast and free digital job hunt.
Nurses can sign up from their mobile phones or computers without making an appointment or going to an interview.
What Are Healthcare Staffing Apps?
User-friendly applications to aid in healthcare staffing connect workers with managers to fill PRN nursing jobs in real-time with the speed and freedom of the internet era. These apps give nurses a tool to manage their own time and work-life balance with PRN jobs and furnish managers with an online resource to resolve staffing gaps immediately.
The younger generations want to take ownership of their time and life. In the words of Cameron Benson, a clinician using Nursa on why he uses healthcare staffing apps:
"The ability to decide when and where I want to work is second to none."
What Exactly is PRN Nursing?
A PRN nurse or clinician provides temporary relief at a healthcare facility by filling vacant shifts as needed. PRN nurses and CNAs cover staffing gaps to meet the demand during peak times such as flu season or when permanent staff members take days off for sick leave or vacations.
To learn just what the acronym stands for, read our article on the What PRN means in the healthcare industry.
Benefits of PRN Staffing Apps and Platforms
Both facilities and clinicians benefit from online healthcare staffing apps.
The staffing app empowers certified nursing aids (CNAs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and registered nurses (RNs) with:
- Access to live information on shifts that hospitals and other healthcare organizations need to fill
- Find jobs near your home or at your preferred location
- The efficiency of requesting a job digitally
- A gateway to PRN jobs where nurses have choices and can decide which shifts to take, reducing burnout and compassion fatigue
- The potential to earn higher hourly pay than at full-time nursing roles
For facilities, the app provides the following significant advantages:
- Fill urgent and short-term staffing needs
- Viewing the applicants’ profiles to see who is the most suitable for the job quickly
- Verification of qualifications healthcare workers presented in their profiles
- Unmediated communication with any applicant through the app’s chat function
- Reduced hiring costs
- Find nurses who may be a good fit for the facility on a longer-term basis
In addition, PRN nurses bring their own personal equipment, process their nursing licenses, and take charge of paying their taxes as independent contractors.
One of the most significant characteristics of Nursa is speed, saving precious time for all involved. The facility can quickly fill vacant shifts with RNs, LPNs, CNAs, or other clinicians—as needed, which is often an important benefit for hospitals. Likewise, clinicians can find shifts in very short order.
Both nurses and healthcare centers enjoy newfound flexibility and reduced administrative burdens.
How Does a Nurse Staffing App Work?
A healthcare facility posts open shifts on the app to resolve a gap in scheduling or because it needs a greater number of nurses for a limited time. Nurses and other clinicians with extra time search for shifts in their area, choose according to their preferences, and request shifts.
For the purpose of this article, we’ll use Nursa as an example of a healthcare staffing app to explore how staffing apps work, common features, cost, and more.
Steps to Use the App for Clinicians
For Nursa, clinicians and allied healthcare professionals can take these steps to take to pick up PRN shifts:
- Facilities post open shifts, detailing the required credentials and other stipulations.
- Clinicians browse the available shifts, make their choice, and apply.
- The facility considers the candidates who have applied and selects the one that fits their needs.
- The clinician arrives and works the shift.
- The facility reports the hours worked, approves the shift, rates the clinician, and shares observations.
- The clinician rates the facility and gives relevant feedback.
- Payday? With Nursa Direct, the nurses receive their pay instantly as soon as they send their shift report.
Each step leads to the next: posting available shifts, choosing jobs and applying, working, providing feedback, and, of course, getting paid.
What About Cancellations and Call Outs?
Things happen in life, and a few cancellations are inevitable. Either the facility or the clinician can cancel even at the last minute—although this is highly discouraged.
When a Clinician Cancels (or calls out) on a Scheduled Shift
- If call out is on behalf of the clinician, the shift goes back into the marketplace, offering a premium to secure a new request expeditiously. Note that the facility’s bill rate will not change.
- You cancel using the app and then call the facility to explain the situation.
- The first four early call outs are not penalized, but if you call out five times within a 30-day period, your account will be frozen for 14 days. However, you will be expected to fulfill any shifts still listed on your calendar.
Alert: A facility will mark you as “No Show” if you did not work your scheduled shift and did not call out the shift on the Nursa app in advance of its start time. In this case, your account will be frozen for 14 days on the first and second time. If you No Show three times over the lifetime of your account, you will be removed from the Nursa app and unable to request shifts.
When a Facility Cancels a Scheduled Shift
- When the facility cancels the shift, they have to pay the scheduled clinician a $75 cancellation fee if the cancellation is within 12 hours of the shift starting time.
- If the cancellation is after the starting time, the facility pays the clinician 50 percent of the remainder of the shift.
Nursa has a support team that you can contact through messaging or by phone to help you with this process. Innovations such as Nursa make life easier, but the first time is always more challenging.
How Much Do Healthcare Staffing Apps Cost?
Nursa is always free for nursing professionals. Free, fast, and transparent!
Of course, there is a cost that is covered by the healthcare facilities.
Are Healthcare Staffing Apps Key to Solving the Nursing Shortage?
In December 2023, McKinsey reported that the nursing workforce shortage still haunts health systems. The report forecasts a deficit of 200,000 to 450,000 nurses available for direct patient care by 2025—in other words, a 10 to 20 percent gap.
On the other hand, according to research commissioned by Nursa—a survey of hospital executives that examined nurse staffing trends—PRN nursing more than doubled from 2019 to 2023. Almost all—98 percent—of the hospital chief financial officers (CFOs) surveyed saw nurse staffing as a crucial challenge for their health system.
Healthcare staffing apps make the connection for per diem nursing jobs and offer a practical solution to managers struggling with urgent staffing needs. Staffing apps also benefit nurses facing the specter of burnout and seeking more freedom, autonomy, and flexible, well-paid work. It’s a win-win solution.
Healthcare on-demand staffing apps, which provide access to a diversity of qualified nurses from all over the country, provide a valuable service to hospitals and other facilities still facing the nursing shortage.
How Long Is the Nursing Shortage Expected to Last?
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) projections suggest that the shortage may last for several more years until 2035 and even longer in some states.
North Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Florida, and Nevada anticipate the most severe nursing shortages over the next few years, with North Dakota projected to meet as low as 84% of its nursing demand.
At the same time, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New Hampshire forecast an excess supply of available nurses by 2030.
The healthcare staffing crisis is one of the major factors in hospital or unit closures. This trend is especially true in rural areas, numbering 42 permanently closing down in the first semester of 2023 only, which has a devastating impact on patient care and safety and on the economy as well.
How Are Healthcare Staffing Apps and Agencies Different?
Both staffing apps and agencies screen qualified temporary nurses and other healthcare workers for a specific job within a specified time, specifically shifts in the case of Nursa.
Implications of Using an Agency
- Some staffing agencies proactively seek out and recruit staff to meet the specific needs of their clients.
- Contracts with staffing agencies may involve various fees and limits or quota requirements in exchange for short-term solutions.
Advantages of Using Staffing Apps
- Nursa has no quota requirements for how often a hospital or the nurse uses the app, encouraging facilities to adjust their per diem contract staff needs in real-time to accommodate fluctuating patient admissions.
- Nursa pays nurses high hourly wages while saving money for hospitals and facilities.some text
- There are no hidden fees when a facility or hospital uses Nursa. The facility only pays for the hours that are worked by PRN staff sourced through the app.
- The facility does not pay for employee benefits (health insurance, retirement, vacation) or overtime.
- The money saved on benefits allows the facility to pay higher wages and save money.
The app functions as an open marketplace that incorporates greater flexibility for both the PRN worker and the healthcare system or company. For the facility, it means they can adjust staffing levels to changing needs, while for the nurse, it gives them the freedom to set their own schedule. For further information, see Nursa’s article on healthcare apps in comparison to staffing agencies.
How to Get Started on a Healthcare Staffing Platform
Whether you are a nurse or a facility, the first move is to sign up and explore the app. Then, you follow the steps as shown on the app itself. You can also read through the steps for facilities or for nurses before signing up.
Nurses
Download the free Nursa app to get started.
Follow the prompts to create a professional profile, verify your license and/or certification(s), and set up your payment method. Browse the PRN shifts available at hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare organizations near home and choose the one that suits you. Get started picking up PRN shifts with Nursa.
Managers
After downloading the app, follow the guide to connect to your facility, check the screening lists, post single or multiple shifts, and select and schedule a clinician.
Start filling shifts and solving staffing gaps the easy way. Take advantage of the digital age, sign up with Nursa today.
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