Hospital and Healthcare Staffing Solutions in Chicago, IL

The nursing staff shortage isn’t only a national media headline; it’s a reality for Illinois’ hospital and healthcare facility administrators, particularly in Chicago. With a resident population of over 2.6 million, perhaps it’s unsurprising that the Chicago metropolitan area employs a significant portion of the Illinois nursing workforce at an estimated 100,000 RNs, 13,000 LPNs, and 41,000 CNAs. Unfortunately, it’s not enough.

PRN Healthcare Staffing Solutions in Chicago, Illinois

Despite the industry’s efforts to address the issue systematically, recruitment and retention of registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nursing assistants (CNAs) remain challenging. Facility administrators must face the day-to-day realities of scheduling despite glaring vacancies and overworked staff.

Hospitals and healthcare facilities can’t wait for nursing programs to expand and grow the next generation of nurses; they need nurses now.

For staffing solutions in Chicago, Illinois, to address the immediate challenges, facility administrators require flexibility and affordability while maintaining quality patient care.

Understanding the Staffing Challenges in Chicago

In a recently published report by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (IEPI), Illinois Nursing in Crisis, the authors project an alarming shortage of 15,000 RNs by 2025. Furthermore, reports by the Illinois Nursing Workforce Center show large percentages of working nurses are at or nearing retirement age as follows:

Forty percent of LPNs are 55 years or older.
Twenty-eight percent of RNs are 55 years or older.
Fifty-nine percent of faculty RNs are 55 years or older.

The ever-encroaching problems of severe nursing shortages and large-scale retirement only compound the real-time challenges of scheduling around nurse turnover, vacancies, last-minute call-offs, seasonal surges in patient intake, and pre-approved in-house staff leave.

Research commissioned by Nursa to evaluate nurse staffing trends according to hospital executives reflects widespread concern at an administrative level:

Forty-one percent of CFO respondents reported an immediate need for shift coverage within the following two weeks.
Ninety-eight percent of CFO respondents identified nurse staffing as a significant challenge.
Eighty-six percent of hospital and health system respondents reported hospital nursing staff turnover at 10 percent or higher for the year.
More than 50 percent of hospitals and health system respondents reported hospital nursing staff turnover at 20 percent or higher for the year.

Research continues to link lower patient-to-nurse ratios with better patient outcomes and reduced nurse burnout. It’s clear that Illinois facilities must address immediate nurse staffing issues to impact their long-term retention goals and mitigate nurse burnout. Yet it takes an average of 86 days for a hospital to hire a single bedside RN.

This delay pressures healthcare administrators in Chicago, Illinois, to implement flexible staffing solutions that will address the now while they continue in-house staff recruitment in the background. Ideally, some of the short-term staffing solutions turn into long-term solutions.

Healthcare Staffing Options in Chicago

The most common healthcare staffing options available for Chicago, IL, facilities include utilizing contracted travel nurses, contracting local nursing professionals via a nurse staffing company, or taking a more flexible approach with per diem (PRN) staffing. Each option has advantages and disadvantages to be considered.

Travel Nurses

Travel nurse contracts typically last eight to 13 weeks, making them an attractive staffing solution for short-term needs. Nevertheless, they are typically expensive and lack flexibility.

Contract Nurses via Nurse Staffing Companies

Nurse staffing companies are convenient because they handle candidate selection, background checks, and credential verification. However, utilizing staffing companies often subjects a facility to contractual obligations, agency fees, hire-away fees, and termination costs when the fit isn’t right.

Per Diem Nursing

Contracting per diem (PRN) nursing clinicians for on-demand staffing for specific shifts instead of a few weeks or months allows facilities flexible scheduling to adapt their staffing directly to their present needs. Although this method is a short-term solution, per diem staffing options in Chicago, IL, can also serve as a “trial” for both the clinician and facility and develop into a long-term recruitment strategy.

Tips for Choosing the Right Staffing Option

Each of the healthcare staffing options offers both benefits and drawbacks. Understanding how those benefits and disadvantages complement or clash with a facility’s needs is crucial to deciding the right staffing option. Consider the following points before making a decision:

Define the need: Is it an emergency staffing need, a seasonal patient influx, a position vacancy, or pre-approved staff leave?
Access: How accessible are the contracted nursing clinicians? Are they local? Who is in charge of candidate selection? Does the company have a local manager to guide the process?
Flexibility: Does the company or platform offer the flexibility to adapt to fluctuating staffing needs?
Technology: Does the technology involved streamline the process or create additional complications?
Cost: Look for contract minimums, termination costs, and hire-away fees.

Nursa Helps Facilities Find Care Professionals in Chicago

Nursa is the healthcare staffing platform that connects facilities and per diem nursing professionals in real time. Hospitals and long-term care facilities in Chicago that sign up with Nursa post their shift needs to the platform, where local healthcare professionals looking to pick up shifts can request them.

Nursa verifies all nursing licenses and nursing assistant certifications and conducts background checks before PRN clinicians can request a shift. Facilities can review professional profiles of available PRN clinicians and select their preferred candidate for the shift, thereby quickly and efficiently filling shifts for safe patient-to-nurse staffing ratios. Furthermore, when a facility and a PRN nurse are a good fit, the facility can hire that clinician for an in-house staff position without paying hire-away fees.

Nursa’s staffing solutions software streamlines the recruitment and talent acquisition processes.

With no long-term contracts, zero hire-away fees, and the flexibility to contract PRN nurses and nursing assistants only when needed, hospitals and facilities in Chicago, Illinois, can address their evolving staffing challenges with Nursa.

Find local PRN nurses and nursing assistants by posting PRN jobs with Nursa.

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