Finding and maintaining sufficient nursing staff isn’t a new problem for New York City hospitals and healthcare facilities, yet it is frustratingly persistent. Rising nurse burnout and retirements compound this problem, while insufficient numbers of new nurses enter the field every year
Hospitals and healthcare facilities in New York City, NY, need responsive staffing solutions that adapt to fluctuating needs without ruinous contract obligations.
Understanding the Staffing Challenges in New York City
Although the state of New York has a nursing workforce of over 350,000 nurses, projections estimate a shortage of 40,000 nurses by the year 2030, an alarming deficit to an already strained workforce.
With a population of well over eight million residents, the city’s healthcare needs are significant, as is the subsequent demand for registered nurses (RNs), licensed practical nurses (LPNs), and certified nursing assistants (CNAs).
As of 2024, more than 90,000 licensed nurses (RNs and LPNs) live in the Big Apple. According to the New York State Education Department Office of the Professions, the geographic distribution of licensed nurses in the New York City boroughs is as follows:
- Bronx County: 2,922 LPNs and 10,386 RNs
- Kings County: 3,987 LPNs and 22,000 RNs
- New York County: 729 LPNs and 10,750 RNs
- Queens County: 3,835 LPNs and 26,381 RNs
- Richmond County: 917 LPNs and 8,832 RNs
Data specific to certified nursing assistants in New York City is difficult to find. However, according to the Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI), the city has an estimated 360,000 direct care workers. This workforce group comprises nursing assistants, personal care aides, and home health aides. Direct care jobs are projected to have the highest growth rate of any other occupation in New York through 2030, yet the profession is also subject to high turnover rates and shortages. PHI attributes these challenges to staff feeling overworked and an imbalance of associated pay rates to these jobs’ physical and emotional demands. Reportedly, almost 40 percent of this workforce group lives in or near poverty, and 34 percent of New York nursing assistants rely on public benefits to make ends meet.
Interestingly, according to the New York State Nurses Association (NSYNA), only around half (53 percent) of the state’s licensed nurses are actively working in nursing. This suggests that the nurse staffing shortage isn’t due to a lack of clinicians; it reflects severe dissatisfaction with the work culture in many healthcare settings. Many identify high nurse turnover and burnout rates as the inevitable consequences of mandatory overtime and high patient-to-nurse staffing ratios.
Nurses leave the industry feeling overworked and burnt out, which places further pressure on the ones who remain. With recruitment taking an average of 86 days to find a single hospital nursing staff member, the present and urgent scheduling challenge can seem overwhelming. It’s a vicious cycle that requires disruption in the form of flexible staffing solutions—ones that can address the immediate staffing challenges and offer solutions for long-term staffing.
Top Staffing Options in New York City
Hospitals and healthcare facilities in New York City can improve patient-to-nurse staffing ratios by implementing alternative staffing options to address short- and long-term needs. Better patient-to-nurse staffing ratios can improve nurse happiness, patient safety, and the quality of patient care, all outcomes that can only help other efforts to increase nurse retention. The following is an overview of the top staffing options available:
- Travel nurses: Contracts with travel nurses are typically eight to 13 weeks long, making them an attractive choice to cover short- and medium-term needs. Nevertheless, travel nursing contracts are notoriously expensive. Furthermore, New York is not yet part of the Nursing Licensure Compact (NLC), so any out-of-state nurse must first obtain a state license to practice.
- Nurse staffing companies: Staffing companies can help facilities by recruiting local healthcare professionals for short-, medium- or long-term needs and handling 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 nurses: Healthcare facilities can also contract per diem nurses and nursing assistants to fill the day-to-day shift vacancies and improve staffing ratios. Although contracting PRN nurses addresses flexible scheduling needs in the short term, it can also become an effective nurse recruitment strategy for in-house positions.
Tips for Choosing the Right Staffing Solution
Although research has shown that nurse staffing is a significant concern among hospital and healthcare executives, budget and finances also remain a priority. Hospitals and healthcare facilities in New York City, NY, have staffing solutions available; the question is how to choose the correct one. Consider the following to determine the benefits and drawbacks:
- 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.
Facilities Find Care Professionals in NYC with Nursa
Nursa is not a nurse staffing agency; it is a healthcare staffing platform that connects New York City facilities to PRN nurses and nursing assistants in New York City, NY. By leveraging technology, Nursa has streamlined the PRN staffing process, making it possible for acute and post-acute care facilities to address their fluctuating staffing needs in real time.
Per diem staffing options in New York City, NY, can help facilities maximize the benefits without suffering many of the drawbacks present in other staffing options. On-demand staffing is often perceived as a short-term solution; however, with Nursa, it can also be a long-term solution. Nursa doesn’t levy hire-away fees, which means some facilities also use it as a viable recruitment strategy to “try out” nurses before offering an in-house position.
Nursa handles all license verification and background checks, providing hospitals and healthcare facilities access to nursing clinicians who are ready to work. Facilities post their PRN shifts to the platform and review clinician profiles on Nursa to select their preferred candidate. Furthermore, with Nursa, there are no contract minimums, so facilities only pay for worked shifts.
Start posting PRN shifts with Nursa and find local nursing clinicians to solve your staffing needs.
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