Hospital and Healthcare Staffing Solutions in Baltimore, MD

Hospitals and other healthcare facilities in Baltimore, Maryland, need cost-effective, flexible solutions to address staffing challenges. Discover the role of PRN staffing in the context of nursing shortages, high turnover, burnout, and other issues.

PRN Healthcare Staffing App Saves Time and Money in Baltimore

Nurses are the largest group of healthcare professionals. They play a critical role in improving patient outcomes.

Therefore, nurse staffing challenges are among the most pressing issues for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Understand healthcare staffing challenges in Baltimore, Maryland, and discover flexible and effective solutions. In particular, learn how a PRN healthcare staffing app can be the best approach for a facility’s short-, medium-, and long-term staffing needs.

Does Maryland Face a Nursing Shortage?

As is the trend nationwide, Maryland faces a nursing shortage.

A report commissioned by the Maryland Hospital Association (MHA) in 2021 found a nurse staffing shortage of 5,000 registered nurse (RN) full-time equivalents (FTEs). This shortage indicates that the workforce meets 91 percent of RN demand at a national average level of care.

The study also found a shortage of approximately 4,000 licensed practical nurses (LPNs). This supply is sufficient to meet about 69 percent of demand.

At the end of 2021, LPNs and RNs had the highest vacancy rates of all occupational groups, 37.7 and 25.4 percent, respectively. Furthermore, that same year, a study by the Maryland Board of Nursing found that 62 percent of nurses were considering leaving the profession.

All these data points indicate a serious nursing shortage in Maryland.

What Are Workforce Projections over the Next Decade?

Unfortunately, the MHA only expects the nursing shortage to worsen in Maryland over the following decade.

By 2035, the MHA expects the RN shortage to grow to 13,800 FTEs, meeting only 80 percent of demand. The MHA projects the LPN shortage will reach 9,200 FTEs by the same year, meeting 44 percent of demand.

Even if nursing graduates increased by 10 percent, the supply of RNs and LPNs would still meet only 85 and 45 percent of the demand in 2035. Furthermore, if nurses postponed retirements by two years, supply adequacy would still only be 82 and 45 percent for RNs and LPNs that same year.

Understanding Nursing Demand Growth by Setting

Demand for nurses and demand growth varies significantly by setting and license type.

The following percentages indicate the projected growth in demand in the Maryland RN workforce by work setting between 2021 and 2035:

Residential Care: 57%
Nursing Home: 50%
Home Health: 38%
Inpatient: 20%
Office: 13%
Emergency: 12%
Outpatient: 10%
Public Health: 9%
Other: 9%
School: 6%
Academia: 0%
Total: 19%

The increased demand for LPNs in Maryland from 2021 to 2035 is equivalent to projected RN growth in most areas. However, the total growth in demand for LPNs is projected to be 28 percent by 2035.

The marked increase in estimated demand for nurses in residential care facilities, nursing homes, and home health is partly due to an aging population, as will be covered in greater detail.

Does Baltimore Face the Same Staffing Challenges?

State estimates do not adequately reflect the reality of each city or county.

Supply adequacy varies significantly throughout the state. Supply adequacy estimates range from 72 to 109 percent for RNs. For LPNs, estimates are below 100 percent throughout the state.

Baltimore is projected to have an adequate supply of RNs in 2035.

However, the MHA report recognizes that regional projections are less accurate than state projections. This is because supply estimates are based on nurses’ preferred addresses, which are typically home addresses. Therefore, it is difficult to determine where nurses actually work.

What Factors Impact the Nursing Shortage?

The MHA projects that Maryland’s population will grow by 9 percent between 2021 and 2035. However, the population aged 65-74 and 75 years or older are expected to increase by 20 and 69 percent, respectively.

Why are these statistics important?

The prevalence of diseases and use of healthcare services increase with age. Therefore, the demand for nurses is projected to grow faster than the population.

The growth of the older Maryland population also includes nurses. Therefore, as new RN graduates enter the workforce, many leave. Overall, Maryland’s RN workforce is expected to grow by 4 percent until 2035.

Even in the most optimistic scenarios, the number of LPNs is expected to drop by 18 percent over this period. This decline reflects the older age of most LPNs. Additionally, fewer aspiring nurses are pursuing this career path in favor of RN licensures or other higher degrees.

The decline in LPNs will put additional strains on the RN workforce since RNs will have to increasingly take over LPN duties in addition to their own.

What Do Maryland Nurses Have to Say?

The goal cannot simply be to increase the number of licensed nurses in Baltimore, Maryland.

Why not?

In March 2022, there were over 86,500 RNs and 11,100 LPNs with active licenses in Maryland. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in May of the same year, there were only 49,790 employed RNs and 7,650 employed LPNs in the state.

Why are licensed Maryland nurses not working as nurses?

Nurse focus groups from Maryland hospitals and health systems in April 2022 offered the following insights.

Conditions in the Nurse Labor Market

Nurses feel overworked and under-appreciated. These feelings lead to burnout and nurse turnover. In turn, the nursing exodus increases shortages and understaffing and causes remaining nurses to feel even more overworked and burned out. Shortages in allied health occupations also contribute to an increased nurse workload.

Nurses are aware of the availability of resilience programs to address high levels of stress and burnout. However, they believe burnout is a systemic issue and do not believe increasing individual resilience is the solution.

Furthermore, Maryland nurses claim pay compression and trends away from pensions and other workforce retention incentives hinder the recruitment and retention of experienced staff.

Generational Differences

Younger workers across occupations put greater emphasis on work-life balance than older generations. This desire for work-life balance makes it difficult for hospitals and other healthcare facilities to staff nurses during night shifts, weekends, and holidays. Staffing more stressful and highly specialized units and settings is also challenging.

Furthermore, current nurse education places greater emphasis on academic and leadership training and less on in-person training. Therefore, new nurses aspire to move quickly to leadership/management positions, spending as little time as possible at the bedside.

Training Issues

Overworked nurses do not prioritize orienting and monitoring new nurses. As a result, new nurses have negative experiences during orientations and often decide to leave bedside care. These overwhelmed new nurses frequently seek outpatient settings or other less stressful positions. They also turn to travel nursing as soon as possible and with little experience.

Additionally, high demand for nurses has allowed young nurses to speed up their career timelines. Nurses are obtaining high levels of education and licensure with little bedside and other essential experiential skills. This faster pace compromises the quality of care they can provide.

What Are Healthcare Staffing Solutions in Baltimore, MD?

Healthcare staffing in Baltimore, Maryland, is a complex issue. Hospitals and other facilities must try to provide nursing staff with the conditions experienced and new nurses demand.

Nurses demand greater work-life balance, including flexible scheduling. Job seekers also desire higher compensation and lower workloads.

Are these demands feasible?

Many healthcare facilities in Baltimore, MD, try to reduce workloads and maintain safe staffing ratios by relying on nurse staffing agencies. However, nurse staffing companies are ineffective for emergency staffing services since too many middlemen and steps are involved. These agencies are also not cost-effective for recruiting permanent staff since they charge exorbitant hire-away fees.

In this context, healthcare leaders are increasingly relying on PRN staffing apps. Facilities can find reliable nurses at the lowest cost through a PRN healthcare staffing platform.

On-Demand Staffing through a Digital App

Acute and post-acute care facilities can find PRN nurses for short-term jobs in Baltimore, Maryland, with Nursa.

This PRN staffing app provides flexible staffing options by connecting facilities with vetted and qualified clinicians for per diem shifts. The platform handles credential verification and conducts background checks, streamlining the staffing process.

It is also a low-cost strategy for facilities to recruit nurses for long-term internal staff positions. Facilities can test out different clinicians until they find one to whom they would like to offer a permanent position. The platform doesn’t charge any hire-away fees, making this a low-cost and effective strategy in the hiring process. Learn about the app’s pricing options for facilities. If any questions arise, a support team is ready to provide customer service around the clock.

Also, discover how Hillsboro Health and Rehabilitation Center, a skilled nursing and rehabilitation care center in Hillsboro, Oregon, used the app to overcome significant employee burnout and turnover challenges.

Healthcare staffing solutions in Baltimore, Maryland, are within reach.

Post PRN jobs to find the qualified local healthcare professionals your facility needs.

Sources:

Per Diem Hospital and Healthcare Staffing in Baltimore