Unpredictability a Challenge in Healthcare Staffing

Healthcare is one of a few industries that never quit. Hospitals and nursing homes are open through weekends, holidays, weather catastrophes and emergencies, with shifts running 24/7. The need for constant staffing and a shift in priorities toward increasing profits has combined to create a staffing maelstrom in which unpredictability is the norm – sometimes, to the detriment of workers and patients.

In their new book Unequal Time, University of Massachusetts sociologists Dan Clawson and Naomi Gerstel break down the movement toward unpredictability as it affects different healthcare workers. Through interviews with multiple workers they determined that while most are experiencing greater unpredictability, the greatest impact is felt by nurses, nursing assistants, and other low-wage healthcare workers.

As mentioned above, the dueling priorities of constant staffing and showing profits lead many healthcare facilities to schedule the minimum possible number of staff for a given shift. When a nurse or aide becomes ill or is otherwise unable to come in, it creates a coverage gap that others must scramble to cover – there is no overlap of extra hands to help out.

Low-wage healthcare workers are often at a greater disadvantage. Demographically, nurses and nurse assistants are overwhelmingly female, with children, and may or may not have a support system in place to handle personal emergencies. Restrictive sick time and attendance policies force these workers to come in even when they are ill, as one of the subjects of Unequal Time shared with Clawson and Gerstel. It should go without saying that workers who come in while ill then put the patients in their care at greater risk.

While this book covered healthcare workers in a facility setting, home care workers often suffer from similar issues of unpredictability and low wages. However, beginning January 1, 2015 home care workers in most circumstances will be covered under federal and state labor laws governing minimum wage and overtime. (Workers can use the Department of Labor’s self-assessment to determine eligibility.)

Nurses and healthcare workers in some states are pushing for changes in staffing ratios, but healthcare staffing agencies can take a proactive approach with their workers by clearly communicating staffing schedules (and not changing them unless absolutely necessary) and implementing less stringent policies governing sick days.

Healthcare staffing agencies that need an additional boost in working capital to take care of their workers may find a solution in healthcare staffing factoring. Access immediate funding without taking on new debt, and invest in your workers with confidence. PRN Funding offers comprehensive healthcare staffing factoring programs to cover a variety of needs and situations – apply today to get started!

In Healthcare, Preparation is Key

In the midst of confusion and concern about the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the United States, the nation’s attention is focused on the practices and protocols of nurses and other healthcare workers who comprise the front line in patient care.

However, Ebola is merely a high-profile example of the risks that healthcare workers face every day. There is the obvious risk of infection from a blood-borne pathogen through contact with bodily fluids, as is the case with Ebola. However, there is also the potential for injury from biohazardous materials, chemicals, and drugs. According to the World Health Organization, unintentional contact with contaminated needles affects approximately six percent of the global health workforce each year resulting in nearly 100,000 new infections.

Even less serious day-to-day interactions can cause illness or injury to healthcare workers – heavy lifting, patient altercations, and the transmission of far more common airborne illnesses among them.

The healthcare industry can take an important lesson from their current battle against Ebola, including vendors that provide healthcare staffing services to hospitals. While vendors may not have a say in the protocols that their clients have in place, it is their responsibility to educate the nurses and other staff members they employ so policies and protocols can be followed properly. In addition, invest in continuing training to keep nurses at a heightened state of readiness should any serious situation occur.

Comprehensive nurse training and preparation will pay off greatly with fewer days missed, greater nurse confidence, and overall healthier and safer practices. If your nurse staffing agency needs a boost in working capital to invest in your workforce, PRN Funding’s nurse staffing factoring program can work for you. Contact PRN Funding today to apply for immediate funding through nurse staffing factoring.

Survey Shines a Light on Nursing Trends

CareerBuilder recently conducted a survey about the nursing profession, in which they measured nurses’ sense of loyalty and satisfaction with their field, the training they find essential to success, and their opinion of the impacts that changes in health care have had on their effectiveness.

Responses from approximately 900 nurses across the country can help health care executives make better decisions about recruiting, retaining, and properly rewarding their nursing staff.

The full results of the study are currently available, and CareerBuilder will present a free webinar discussing how healthcare organizations can integrate those results into their ongoing strategies. In the meantime, below are five of the study’s most interesting results:

5) 58 percent of nurses believe that health care changes have made the workplace less efficient.

4) Half of nurses surveyed believe technology helps them do their jobs faster.

3) Two out of three nurses reported having a mentor on the job – mostly in hospitals and hospice settings.  In facilities without a nurse mentoring program, 41 percent responded that management has not picked up on the idea and 43 percent say that potential mentors are too busy.

2) 67 percent of nurses reported that on the job training was as helpful as or more helpful than their formal training.

1) More than 80 percent of nurses would recommend a career in nursing to others. (Is your job satisfaction that high?)

For more in-depth applications of the study’s information, we recommend taking advantage of CareerBuilder’s webinar scheduled for June 5.

If you provide nursing staff to hospitals and other healthcare facilities, don’t let poor cash flow stop you from keeping them satisfied. PRN Funding can customize the ideal nurse staffing factoring program to meet your needs – contact us today to learn more and get started!

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Nurse Group Pushes for Nurse Staffing Ratio in D.C. Hospitals

National Nurses United has joined a Washington, D.C. nurses’ union in calling for the renewal of a 2013 bill intended to mandate nurse ratios at the District’s hospitals.

NNU and the local union argue that understaffing in D.C. hospitals puts patients’ lives at risk, citing 215 separate occurrences when patients were “endangered” because of nurse staffing levels. One example describe a labor and delivery unit in which three nurses of a shift of ten were left to care for ten women in labor when five nurses were pulled away for two C-sections and a hemorrhaging patient.

The original bill would establish a minimum ratio of nurses to patients on every shift at every District hospital. Facilities in noncompliance would face a $25,000 daily fine; required overtime and averaged ratios would be banned.

While some Council members support the legislation, which mirrors legislation enacted in California ten years ago, hospitals argue that the bill fails to consider the unpredictability of staffing needs and unnecessarily raises their cost of labor.

Increased labor costs can slow down hospitals’ payments to their vendors. If slow hospital payments threaten your healthcare company’s cash flow, PRN Funding’s healthcare factoring programs can help. Contact us today to learn how healthcare factoring for your specialty can help you thrive.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!

merry christmas

As we prepare to observe Christmas celebrations with our loved ones, we at PRN Funding want to wish you a joyful and prosperous holiday season – whatever your holiday.

We give special thanks to the nurses, EMTs, and other healthcare staff who will work through some or all of the holiday to keep others safe and healthy. May the hours move quickly so you can be home with family and friends.

Take the time to reevaluate your company’s goals for 2014, to form new ideas and get rid of old ideas that are not working for you. Make a plan to pursue even greater success, or to overcome the greatest challenge facing your company today.

Finally, regardless of your company’s position, consider gifting yourself with peace of mind from money concerns. PRN Funding is here to help you beat your cash flow woes with a flexible healthcare factoring program perfect for a variety of services and industries. Of the gifts under your company tree, factoring is the gift that will deliver continued success year-round.

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

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More Nurses Seeking Careers in Leadership

Whether you visit clinics, hospitals, or rehab facilities, you will find that nurses make up the largest group of healthcare professionals. Throughout the country and the whole world, the largest sector of healthcare providers is made up of nurses. Regardless of their overwhelming presence, not many of these nurses are included in important policy discussions that could shape the future of patient care.

A two-year study analyzing nurses’ roles in re-shaping the current healthcare system was conducted by the Institute of Medicine and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Among the findings from the study was a 600-page document, providing a closer look at nurses’ education. Additionally, the report offered suggestions for assigning leadership roles in enhancing the healthcare system.

medican and nurse staffing

Currently, new nursing graduates are being encouraged by their educators and nursing associations to serve as competent leaders in the healthcare industry. Aside from empowering nurses, these efforts aim to increase nurses’ leadership roles, all while promoting change within the industry.

Cathy L. Rozmus, associate dean for academic affairs and assistant vice president for Institutional Assessment and Enhancement at UTHealth School of Nursing, views education as a crucial component to nursing leadership. At the very least, Rozmus said that nurses should have a bachelor of science in nursing in order to prepare for a leadership role. However, she also said that many larger healthcare facilities call for a master’s degree, either in a nursing specialty or nursing administration.

Rozmus offered plenty of advice for new nursing graduates pursuing a leadership role in the healthcare industry. She said that the most effective way to prepare for a leadership position is to offer volunteer services for various committees. Furthermore, she believes that by working in interprofessional groups, nurses will gain invaluable experience that will help prepare them for a leadership role.