This year’s Healthcare Staffing Summit will be held at the Hilton San Francisco on September 8-9. At the annual summit, CEOs, owners and senior level executives in the healthcare staffing industry gather and discuss topics of both strategic and tactical interest to the full range of healthcare staffing segments – travel nursing, per diem nursing, locum tenens, and allied medical.
Click here for more information on the 2008 Healthcare Staffing Summit.
The National Association of Travel Healthcare (NATHO) launched this month.
According to their web site, the purpose of NATHO is to provide a forum for companies who provide travel healthcare services (i.e. travel nurse staffing agencies). This forum helps set ethical guidelines which provide the foundation of relationships between NATHO members and their clients.
In addition, NATHO is committed to continuous educational programming that focuses on the exchange of ideas about the standards of the industry and changes in the Travel Healthcare marketplace, which affects NATHO members.
Because the travel healthcare staffing industry has very unique needs, PRN Funding is pleased to see that there is now a specific organization out there dedicated to serving the industry.
For more details, visit National Association of Travel Healthcare Organization online.
Last week, we had the opportunity to welcome back a client who had previously left us for a “cheaper” factoring firm. In exchange for “lower rates,” this client received less industry experience, poor customer service, and numerous hidden fees and surcharges, which PRN is fundamentally opposed to. In the end, all of these things drove them right back to PRN Funding barely three months after leaving.
Some services PRN Funding offers that the other factoring firm did not:
Familiarity with the agency’s clients:
Because of PRN Funding’s specialized niche in healthcare staffing funding, we worked with this company’s debtors (clients) before, so we already knew what type of payment terms to expect and who to call when there was a question about an invoice or recent payment.
Quick turnaround time:
Because PRN Funding has been in business for nine years, we understand the complexities of the accounts receivable factoring industry. We were able to process the buyout agreement quickly and initiate a funding within days.
Superior customer service:
PRN Funding takes pride in our customer service. Every time the nurse staffing agency calls the PRN office, a live human being answers the phone and directs the nurse staffing agency owner to his personal account manager.
Dedicated staff:
The account managers at PRN Funding take the time to research and post complicated deposits directly. The well-trained and committed staff at PRN Funding work diligently to correctly post deposits in a timely basis every day.
Real time online reporting:
PRN Funding’s clients have access to the e-Factor reporting system via our web site 24/7/365. Rather than wondering what payments came in or what invoices are still open, this nurse staffing client is able to log into the reporting system and view their account in real-time.
Frustrated with the new factoring company’s lack of nurse staffing industry knowledge and inexperience in the factoring industry, this client found out the hard way that accounts receivable factoring firms are not a one size fits all.
This isn’t the first time that a client has come back to us after an unpleasant experience with another factoring company. And we have to admit that we’re really happy they came back!
Right here in Cleveland, Ohio, nurses are protesting for a “patient protection act” to limit nurses to no more than four patients per shift. Nurses from around the state of Ohio rallied at the Statehouse last Tuesday, asking to reduce the patient-to-nurse ratio.
Hospitals in Ohio say that there are too few nurses to meet the proposed ratio. Surely, bringing in supplemental staffing could help Ohio hospitals meet the 4:1 ratio. So if you are a nurse staffing business owner servicing the Ohio area, it might be a good idea to start calling on some of these facilities.
Click here to read the article on MyFoxCleveland: Are Ohio Nurses Assigned to More Patients Than They Can Handle?
For those nurse staffing agency owners looking for new clients in the Kansas City area, Centerpoint Medical Center (Independence, MO) is in dire need of more nurses.
The Centerpoint nurses union, The Nurses United for Improved Patient Care, petitioned the hospital claiming they are forced to look after too many patients, and the care suffers as a result.
Click here to read the entire article: Nurses Demand Increase in Staffing at Centerpoint.
Contrary to the rest of the U.S. job market, an economic downturn actually prompts new recruits and seasoned veterans to enter the field of nursing. More nurses entering the workforce full-time means a temporary decrease in the nurse shortage and most likely a minor decrease in the demand for temporary nurses.
But industry experts don’t expect this trend to last for long. As what goes up must surely come down, the familiar trend will reverse once the economy speeds up again. Full-time nurses will cut back on their hours and there will be an increased demand for temporary nurses to fill the vacant hospital positions.
We encourage you to read the Wall Street Journal article, Slowdown’s Side Effect: More Nurses, to learn more about the counter-cyclical nursing profession.
May 6-12 is National Nurses Week, and the theme for 2008 is Nurses: Making a Difference Every Day. The American Nurses Association put together a media kit with tips and ideas to help temporary nurses celebrate the week, such as:Hold a special celebration or reception to recognize a nurse or several nurses in your community. These nurses could be honored for heroic acts, years of service to the community, exemplary courage, or their commitment to the nursing profession over the years.
Promote a positive, realistic image of registered nurses by sponsoring health fairs, conducting preventive screenings in underserved areas, organizing a walk-a-thon, etc.
Place an article in your state or local newspaper(s) about National Nurses Week and the value of nurses.
Invite a politician — local, state or federal — to accompany a nurse or several nurses at their place of employment for a day or part of a day. Health care remains an issue of tremendous importance to voters. Politicians should be visible and accountable for their positions on health care. This is a win-win situation and it offers good media coverage potential.
Ask every nurse in America to wear an “RN Pin” and/or nurse’s uniform during National Nurses Week. The official “RN Pin” is available by calling 1-800-445-0445 (credit card orders only).
Click here for more ideas on how to celebrate
National Nurses Week 2008.Q: How are you celebrating this important week in week with your employees?
Is anyone familiar with The Nurse Company?
It’s the first company in the history of the nursing profession dedicated solely global nurse shortage. In a recent press release, The Nurse Company described themselves as “the word’s leading nurse shortage management, market research, and advisory company with strategic relationships in 14 countries and territories.”
The Nurse Company offers nurses the use of social media tools to develop collaborative communities and tools to nurses. Some of their featured resources include:
MyNurseBook, connects nurses around the world interested in networking and sharing their opinions
MyNurseBoard, matching nurses with employers and employer with nurses
MyTrustRex, connecting health professionals and patients
MyNurseStore, online shopping for nurses
MyNurseSchool, online education for nurses (Coming Soon!)
Check it out and let us know what you think about the organization. We welcome your comments.
The nurse shortage is affecting everyone, and industry experts say that it will only get worse–Unless you are a nurse.
An article from MiamiHerald.com titled: “Where are the nurses?” describes how hospitals in southern Florida are offering BIG incentives in order to recruit and retain nurses during this shortage:
Baptist Health South Florida has been aggressively recruiting nurses from the Philippines, sponsors 10 students by partnering with the International University of Nursing in St. Kitts, and has paid out $11 million in nursing scholarships since 2002. They also offer housing at below market prices to lure out-of-state nurses to come work at their facilities.
Tenet’sWest Boca Medical Center offers sign-on bonuses which start at $2,000 and retention bonuses from $3,000 to $10,000 as well as bonus incentive programs.
Click here to read more about what southern Florida hospitals are offering their nurses.
Q: Does your nurse staffing agency offer any incentives for the nurse to stay with you rather than to work at the facility directly?
VISTA Staffing Solutions came out with a survey in January 2008 which gathered physicians’ opinions about the option of locum tenens. Here are some of the surveys results:
70% of the respondents “agreed” or “strongly agreed” with the following statement, “Locum tenens can extend careers in medicine.”
53% “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that locum tenens can help doctors avoid burnout by giving them a feasible way to work part-time, make a transition or secure locum tenens coverage for their own practices.
82% of the respondents said that locum tenens is an attractive option for doctors who are considering semi-retirement.
58% of the surveyed doctors indicated that locum tenens would be a good option for physicians seeking to make a professional transition.
47% said working as a locum tenens after completing his/her residency training was also an attractive option.
Physicians aged 30-39 shared a strong preference to work partial or single days schedules, while doctors aged 40-49 preferred one-to-four week assignments, and physicians aged 50-59 agreed with the 40-49 age range in addition to an increasing interest in one-to-three month assignments.
Click here to read the press release: Locum Tenens Practice Option May Extend Careers in Medicine, Help Physicians Avoid Burnout.
