In 2020, the annual revenue for Favorite Healthcare Staffing was $546 million
Most Facilities prefer to use a nurse staffing agency. Nurse vacancies remain high, as more hospitals weigh their staffing options to address seasonal fluctuations, nurse retirements, and burnout. According to a 2019 study of trends in nurse staffing, a higher number of healthcare executives are open to staffing agencies than in the past. Depending on the need of the facility, a nurse staffing agency should offer flexible options to keep the workforce fully staffed at critical times.
Meet the U.S. Nurse Shortage
The need for Registered Nurses (RNs) in the U.S. is at an all-time high as the need for patient care grows. The Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that the RN workforce is projected to grow to more than three million (an increase of 15 percent from 2016). Contributing causes to the shortage include an increase in patients, an increase in nurse retirements, and an increase in nurse burnout among younger generations.
Nurses across the U.S. have been coming out to protest current nurse-to-patient ratios, citing that the current ratio threatens the quality of patient care.
More Patients
The rapid increase in patients is a strong driver of the nursing shortage. The opioid epidemic has been deemed a public health crisis and has led to an estimated 1.3 million with opioid addictions being hospitalized every year. On top of that, an aging population of baby boomers continues to drive the demand for healthcare services. An estimated eighty percent of baby boomers have at least one chronic health condition.
The Need for a Sustainable Solution
Facilities across the U.S. are changing their tactics to alleviate critical staffing challenges, with more relying on staffing agencies to fill those needs. U.S. hospital leaders feeling the brunt of the shortage will need to develop a comprehensive approach to healthcare staffing as they plan for the future.
How Nurse Staffing Agencies Work
Nurse staffing agencies provide nurse placements to hospitals that have trouble filling temporary or permanent placements. They secure contracts for registered nurses to work in various types of healthcare facilities. The employment of international nurses has become increasingly popular in the past decade as a means to balance the nurse supply and demand. Since internationally-educated healthcare professionals are costly for hospitals to procure, staffing agencies specializing in international nurse staffing are becoming more common. Typically, these agencies sponsor the international nurse’s visa and charge the facility a flat fee for the RN.
Established staffing agencies streamline the staffing process for healthcare professionals and hospitals alike, with some agencies providing additional services such as housing, education programs, ongoing support, etc. It’s critical to understand all the benefits you will receive when choosing to partner with an agency. The services a staffing firm will have will depend on the types of healthcare professionals they place.
The Bottom Line
As the nursing shortage looms, the need for a sustainable long-term solution becomes more apparent. Proper nurse staffing is critical to help prevent RN burnout and improve patient outcomes. With more healthcare facilities beginning to understand the importance of having a multi-faceted approach to staffing, nurse leaders are becoming more knowledgeable about the different types of staffing agencies, placements, and factors to consider to best fit their needs.
Reference:https://avanthealthcare.com/
https://avanthealthcare.com/blog/nurse-staffing-agency.stml
