As the United States’ COVID-19 pandemic challenges gradually wind down, hospitals and other medical centers still face ongoing staff shortages. The Registered Nurse shortage most impacts patient care in all types of medical facilities.
However, hospitals may also lack enough physicians to adequately staff all departments. Other medical providers also need skilled healthcare professionals. These staffing issues are likely to continue for 5 to 10 years (or longer).
Fewer healthcare workers could mean delayed or subpar patient experiences. Most importantly, some services may have slipped through the cracks entirely. Although these staffing shortages existed before the pandemic, this “perfect storm” of increased patient care needs and fewer healthcare professionals greatly magnified the problem.
Fortunately, Cincinnati-based Health Carousel offers multifaceted healthcare staffing solutions. This results-focused company services hospital and medical facility clients across the country. The business’ customized staffing strategies take each client’s needs and budget into account. This “win-win” solution benefits the facility and the patients it serves.
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The Nursing Profession Will Likely Continue Its Strong Growth
The nursing profession is expected to enjoy robust growth for the foreseeable future. To illustrate, the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics says Registered Nurse employment is predicted to increase by 9% from 2020 to 2030. This growth rate matches the average for all occupations.
During this period, approximately 194,500 Registered Nurse openings are expected every year, on average. Many of these opportunities will likely result from the need to replace nurses who retire or undertake different occupations.
Factors Behind the Increased RN Needs
The United States’ population continues to age, with baby boomers making up an increasingly larger share of the country’s overall numbers. For perspective, the National Library of Medicine’s StatPearls February 2022 edition states that the U.S. currently has the greatest number of 65+ Americans than at any other period in the country’s history.
Many of these seniors have multiple comorbidities, leading to a need for increased healthcare services. Concurrently, this older population is likely to survive longer thanks to more sophisticated medical treatment options. Taken together, these factors point to the need for more Registered Nurses to support this population’s healthcare needs.
Finally, the United States continues to see an expansion of medical facilities. Many metro area specialist practices serve the growing senior population. In addition, urgent care clinics and mini-clinics continue to spring up in many cities and towns. Each of these practices requires nursing support, ideally from skilled Registered Nurses.
Two Factors Drive the Growing U.S. Nursing Shortage
The growing need for Registered Nurses has been accompanied by a nationwide shortage of these skilled healthcare professionals. Two major factors are behind this ongoing trend.
Nursing Population Continues to Age
A substantial number of Registered Nurses will soon be aging out of the workforce. Today, approximately one million Registered Nurses are at least 50 years of age. This means that one-third of the entire workforce may retire within 10 to 15 years.
To further complicate the issue, these substantial numbers include nursing educators. A shortage of nursing faculty already exists, resulting in program enrollment limits and fewer future nurses to serve a growing patient population. In addition, fewer nursing faculty members can jeopardize a program’s overall quality.
In hospitals, fewer Registered Nurses mean that new nurses don’t receive the guidance and support they need. As a result, the recently hired nurses experience reduced job satisfaction. This can lead to disillusionment and eventual job burnout.
COVID-19 Accelerates Career Burnout
Career burnout in the nursing profession is not a new phenomenon. Some new nursing program graduates decide that their new career isn’t what they envisioned. Other nurses experience career burnout and leave the profession. Although some nurses eventually resume their careers, others adopt an entirely different career path.
The COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the nurse burnout rate. Registered Nurses worked impossibly long hours, handling increased patient loads while some colleagues were sick with the virus. Caring for numerous seriously ill patients also took its toll. Over time, nurses grew physically and mentally exhausted from meeting ever-growing job demands. Burnout was a natural consequence of these stressors.
Medical Office Nursing Shortages
Besides hospitals’ Registered Nurse shortages, many medical offices lack enough nurses to care for increased numbers of patients. Many patients postponed checkups, diagnostic work, and elective procedures during the pandemic. Now, patients are flooding understaffed offices, seeking to have their unmet medical needs resolved.
Health Carousel Offers a Suite of Proven Solutions
Every healthcare business has different staffing needs, priorities, and resources. Therefore, a staffing agency that provides pre-packaged solutions does a huge disservice to its clients. It’s also likely that the solutions’ implementation will not provide the clients with optimal results.
Health Carousel strongly believes that each healthcare client deserves a custom solution that takes all relevant factors into account. First, the company invests in the latest recruiting technology and digital tools, setting the stage for success.
Working from multiple United States offices, Health Carousel’s expert recruiters take healthcare recruitment services to the next level. When appropriate, these skilled professionals regularly seek qualified candidates for permanent, temp-to-perm, and temporary positions. In the highly competitive healthcare recruitment arena, Health Carousel has been recognized for its ethical recruitment practices.
Health Carousel Travel Nurse Services
Skilled, versatile travel nurses enable diverse health care facilities to navigate staffing shortages. Health Carousel Travel Nursing (or HCTN) is a master supplier company that provides superior travel nurse staffing solutions. HCTN contracts with healthcare facilities throughout the United States.
HCTN employs a highly effective unified account management structure. Qualified candidates enjoy short-term to mid-term contracts and flexible start dates.
This mutually beneficial arrangement provides travel nurses with a steady income. Through travel nurses’ support, HCTN’s partner clients can better deliver effective patient care.
Health Carousel Locum Tenens Services
Highly experienced physicians and advanced practitioners are the foundation of every quality healthcare system. When healthcare facilities have planned (or unplanned) temporary vacancies, Health Carousel Locum Tenens (or HCLT) steps in to provide an immediate staffing solution.
The company offers the full range of locum tenens specialties in all 50 states. Specialty-exclusive recruiters and sophisticated digital tools help to streamline the recruiting process.
To fill clients’ short-term vacancies, Health Carousel Locum Tenens forges career-long partnerships with highly qualified healthcare providers in every specialty. HCLT manages the technology-led recruiting credentialing and verification process. The company also facilitates provider onboarding programs.
Benefits of Locum Tenens Staffing Solutions
Working with an experienced locum tenens staffing agency (such as HCLT) offers multiple proven benefits. First, HCLT clients can easily access qualified locum tenens physicians and advanced practitioners across the country.
Once locum tenens team members are on site, they can contribute to improved service availability and reduced patient wait times. Overall, patients are likely to receive higher-quality care in a more efficient manner.
Some healthcare facilities are considering changes to their service delivery models. By integrating locum tenens personnel into the service framework, a facility can temporarily restructure its operations and evaluate the outcomes. Based on the results, the facility can more confidently move forward with permanent changes.
Most importantly, hiring locum tenens providers enables a facility’s healthcare staff to take some well-deserved time off. When they can enjoy relaxation and self-care, they are less likely to encounter job burnout.
Health Carousel Workforce Solutions
A stable, well-managed workforce enables medical facilities to provide optimal patient care. Health Carousel Workforce Solutions (or HCWS) partners with each client to design a custom staffing solution that meets their specific needs. This cohesive program enables facilities to effectively plan for, hire, and oversee an often-diverse workforce.
The HCWS Chief Nursing Officer’s clinical team leads each workforce solutions program. Workforce management experts provide targeted program design and implementation services. Through productive collaboration, these entities help to position each client to achieve effective workforce management.
Health Carousel’s Managed Services Provider Program
Every healthcare staffing challenge stems from a specific set of circumstances. Health Carousel’s Managed Services Provider (or MSP) Program Team helps clients uncover the issues’ source. These clinically-led workforce specialists utilize the latest technology and experience-driven insights to better inform client planning.
Through the MSP Program, clients experience a reduced need for contingent staff, leading to lower overall expenses. In turn, this leads to higher revenue realization. Workforce and patient satisfaction also increase over time. Looking at the bigger picture, clients have growing confidence in their workforce management plan.
Health Carousel International
Clients who desire longer-term staffing solutions often turn to Health Carousel International (or HCI). This ethically focused staffing agency works with global healthcare professionals who want to further their careers at United States healthcare facilities.
HCI’s PassportUSA Program regularly partners with credentialed Registered Nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and medical technologists across the globe. HCI guides each participant through the process, enabling a seamless experience for both parties.
Once a PassportUSA participant is onsite, a HCI clinical team assists in their professional development. The clinical team also ensures that each participant maintains all necessary credentials and/or certifications. Finally, HCI is a leader in ethical nurse recruitment, helping to sustain originating countries’ development of skilled nurses over the long term.
Health Carousel Offers Nationwide Scope and Targeted Solutions
With its highly responsive capabilities and 50-state operation, Health Carousel continues to play a key role in the healthcare staffing industry. The company’s strong commitment to ethical recruitment principles positions it for continued industry leadership.