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Healthcare staffing app in Raleigh, NC: Innovative solutions
Healthcare is evolving, and so is nurse staffing.
While traditional staffing methods still have their place, hospitals and other healthcare facilities must also expand their options to include innovative, flexible strategies.
Understand current healthcare needs in Raleigh, North Carolina, and how a PRN staffing app can help address these needs.
What are healthcare staffing needs in Raleigh, NC?
North Carolina will need approximately 12,500 registered nurses (RNs) and 5,000 licensed practical nurses (LPNs) by 2033.
Large metropolitan areas will need more RNs than non-metropolitan areas, and Raleigh is among the regions that will need the most RNs and LPNs statewide.
Needs by facility type and nursing license
Registered nurses will be in the highest demand in hospitals. By 2033, the demand for RNs will exceed supply by 10,000 in hospitals alone.
Long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, extended care, and assisted living facilities, will see the second-highest need for RNs.
Licensed practical nurses will be in highest demand in nursing homes, extended care, and assisted living facilities. These facilities will need to fill approximately 50 percent of LPN positions by 2033.
Hospitals will also need to fill nearly 32 percent of LPN positions by 2033.
How can North Carolina increase its nursing workforce?
Delaying nurse retirement and increasing nurse graduates are the scenarios most likely to increase the nursing workforce in North Carolina.
Delaying nurse retirement
Estimates indicate that delaying nurse retirements by two years would have the following impacts on the nursing workforce by 2033:
- The gap between the supply and demand of RNs would reduce from 12,500 to 11,500.
- Delayed retirements can reduce the need for LPNs from 5,000 to 4,900.
Increasing nurse graduates
Growing the number of nurse graduates in the state by 10 percent would have the following effects on the nursing workforce by 2033:
- The need for RNs would decrease from 12,500 to 10,000.
- The demand for LPNs would reduce from 5,000 to 4,500.
Although delaying nurse retirements and increasing the number of nurse graduates will likely have the most significant impacts on the nursing workforce, healthcare facilities will still have to employ a combination of creative and flexible staffing solutions.
Which innovative staffing solutions can facilities employ?
Let’s explore the realities of common medical staffing strategies to understand the need for innovative solutions.
Traditional employment
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities primarily address staffing needs by hiring nursing staff for employee positions.
Internal staff are essential players in any healthcare facility. However, these staff members offer the least flexibility for facilities. For example, meeting RN-to-patient and other staffing ratios with 100 percent internal staff presents challenges during periods of low patient census.
Nurse staffing agencies
Healthcare facilities have also traditionally relied on nurse staffing companies for various types of workers: per diem or PRN staffing, travel nurses, and permanent positions.
This variety is undoubtedly an advantage of using nurse staffing agencies in Raleigh, NC.
However, if a facility in Raleigh, North Carolina, relies on a nurse staffing agency to recruit an employee, they must pay an exorbitant hire-away fee.
These agencies are also not ideal for emergency staffing since they often prioritize longer contracts over single PRN shifts. For example, if a triage nurse calls in sick on the day of a shift, a hospital may be unable to cover staffing needs with an agency nurse on such short notice.
Innovative staffing solutions
Facilities will continue to recruit permanent staff and rely on travel nurses during seasonal patient surges or temporary leaves of absence of internal staff. However, it is also essential to explore more flexible solutions to address the shortcomings of traditional options.
An innovative alternative to staffing agencies for finding PRN nurses in Raleigh, NC, is using a healthcare staffing app.
Customized healthcare staffing solutions with a PRN app
Nursa is a healthcare staffing app connecting facilities in Raleigh, North Carolina, with local healthcare professionals for open PRN shifts. Here’s how our app helps facilities find the lowest-cost, reliable nurses they need:
- Flexible scheduling: Facilities can access on-demand staffing through the app. They can post last-minute PRN shifts for a variety of qualified healthcare professionals, including RNs, LPNs, certified nursing assistants (CNAs), and more.
- Reliability: Healthcare facilities can rest assured that the clinicians they contract through the app are qualified and vetted. The platform takes care of credential verification and background checks before clinicians can pick up a shift.
- Transparency: There are no hidden costs. Facilities approve the pay for a shift before posting it and only pay for the hours worked.
- Cost-effective staffing: Facilities can save money in numerous ways with the PRN staffing app. They do not have to pay employee benefits or overtime. They do not have to pay the housing and transportation costs that travel nursing often demands. Nursa Support can help facilities determine the ideal pricing for a shift to find the lowest-cost, reliable nurse.
PRN staffing as a long-term strategy
Per diem staffing is an effective short-term solution, but can it also be a long-term strategy?
Our healthcare staffing app is also a creative and innovative way to recruit long-term employees.
Auto-Schedule
First, after seeing various clinicians in action, facilities can add their top picks to a Favorites list on the app. Then, through the Auto-Schedule feature, facilities can automatically schedule those favorite clinicians for open PRN shifts. This feature saves valuable time for schedulers and nurse managers.
Scheduling integrations
Another feature that makes our app effective for long-term staffing strategies is its compatibility with facilities’ existing scheduling platforms.
Schedulers can connect their accounts on the app to workforce management systems like UKG, thereby conveniently keeping existing scheduling and timekeeping all in one place.
No hire-away fees
The previous features make the app an efficient and sustainable long-term solution for per diem staffing needs. However, our app is also an excellent way to recruit permanent staff.
Facilities can get to know clinicians during the PRN shifts they work. They can witness firsthand the clinicians’ knowledge, skills, attitudes, and teamwork. This firsthand experience beats any nurse resume or interview when choosing the ideal candidate for a position.
The icing on the cake is that facilities do not pay any hire-away fees when they offer clinicians permanent positions.
How are other facilities using our PRN staffing app?
Brookfield Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia is a skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility in Battle Ground, Washington. The facility was experiencing difficulties staying fully staffed and ensuring reliable clinicians were at its patients’ bedsides.
The Brookfield team assessed the pros and cons of different staffing options and ultimately decided to use our platform.
“Agency staffing doesn’t provide an easy-to-access platform where I can easily request and schedule shifts which is why we turned to Nursa.” - Josh Clark, CEO of Brookfield Health and Rehabilitation of Cascadia
By integrating our app into their staffing model, the Brookfield team has found a smooth solution for managing last-minute call outs and open weekend shifts. It has also benefited from the customer service provided by local representatives who are available 24/7 to assist with anything from emergencies to filling out shift reports.
This innovative and flexible staffing strategy has allowed Brookfield to maintain safe staffing ratios, allowing their team to support their patients’ health and wellbeing and improve care outcomes.
Best healthcare staffing company in Raleigh, NC
There is no single solution to healthcare staffing needs in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Hospital and long-term care facility staffing must rely on innovative, creative, and flexible strategies.
One effective strategy is downloading our PRN nursing app for short-, medium-, and long-term staffing solutions.
Sign your facility up for free and experience the advantages of flexible, reliable, and cost-effective staffing solutions.
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