Per Diem Healthcare Staffing Options in San Diego, CA

It is not new that the United States faces a nursing shortage, and San Diego is no exception.

According to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, California has the second-highest nurse staffing shortage rate in the country, at 26 percent.

Therefore, looking for flexible staffing solutions in San Diego, CA, is imperative to maintaining proper nurse-to-patient ratios. Healthcare facilities in California can rely on flexible staffing options to find nurses when needed without the costs associated with permanent positions and maintain the quality of care.

Understanding the Staffing Challenges in San Diego

Healthcare centers in San Diego need to deal with the difficulties resulting from the nursing shortage. Here is some data that shows the nursing shortage in numbers:

According to the Hospital Association of Southern California (HASC), nurse turnover is 11.1 percent in San Diego, almost reaching the turnover rate for all occupations (11.3 percent).
According to the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, 106,310 extra nurses will be needed in California by 2036 to meet the demand.
California nursing schools need to increase enrollment by 60 percent to avoid the shortage.
The cost of living in San Diego is 43 percent higher than the national average, making it difficult to hire nurses from other areas.
According to a survey conducted by the HASC, 93 percent of hospitals in the area responded that RN specialty positions are the hardest to fill.
The RN positions that are the most difficult to fill in the area are operating room (OR), intensive care unit (ICU), case manager, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and labor and delivery (L&D).
According to the 2022 Survey of California Registered Nurses, 5.7 percent of nurses reported severe symptoms of nurse burnout, and 8.5 percent reported persistent symptoms of burnout.

This data shows the difficulties that hospitals in San Diego and nearby areas face due to the staffing shortage.

Top Staffing Options in San Diego

There are various ways to find hospital nursing staff. However, some are more efficient than others. Here are the top healthcare staffing options in San Diego, CA:

Traditional staffing: Hiring permanent staff has benefits, such as knowing your nurse staff's strengths and weaknesses and having more control over your personnel. Nevertheless, some costs come with permanent employees, such as benefits, training, and turnover. In case of demand surges, this method is the least flexible when emergency staffing is needed.
Staffing agencies: A staffing agency works as an intermediary between nurses and healthcare facilities. Some of its benefits are that it can find specialized nurses for the job and simplify the recruiting process. Nevertheless, agencies charge hire-away fees that can burden the facility and cause delays in finding the right nurse for the job.
Travel nursing: Travel nurses are a good short- or medium-term solution, but they are expensive, requiring facilities to pay extra to cover additional costs such as temporary housing. Furthermore, California is not part of the nurse licensure compact, which can make hiring extra difficult.
Per diem nursing: This staffing option is a flexible way to find nurses when needed quickly. Onboarding PRN nurses can become the best option for facilities to maintain patient safety and the number of healthcare workers required without the intermediation of nurse staffing companies. With this type of staffing, facilities may have challenges building teamwork.

Tips for Choosing the Right Staffing Option

Based on nurse recruitment difficulties and high turnover rates that hospitals and healthcare centers are facing in San Diego, it is essential to have flexible and efficient solutions in order to maintain nurse-to-patient ratios and quality care.

A study commissioned by Nursa shows that more facilities are relying on on-demand staffing solutions such as PRN nursing. The benefits of choosing per diem staffing options in San Diego, CA, are the following:

Access to a pool of local healthcare professionals as well as qualified clinicians from other nearby areas
Ability to maintain staff ratios, which prevents burnout and helps to build a positive work culture in the facility
Access to flexible scheduling, hospitals can post PRN shifts specific to their needs
Ability to cover shifts in different nursing specialties like acute care, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, long-term care, long-term acute care hospital, and much more

These are just some of the benefits that PRN staffing solutions can bring to facilities in San Diego. PRN staffing is a solution for every type of facility.

Learn how Nursa helps long-term care facilities find qualified PRN clinicians.

Nursa Helps Facilities Find Care Professionals in San Diego

A facility that understands how technology speeds up hiring nurses can capitalize on the benefits of using Nursa, a PRN staffing marketplace that connects healthcare facilities with local nurses. Facilities can post shifts and find the perfect match for the job.

Nursa is the best partner for facilities since they can access a broad pool of talent without worrying about credential verification and costly hire-away fees.

Facilities can post jobs on Nursa to find talented PRN nurses in San Diego, CA.

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