Healthcare is a uniquely dynamic industry, in a lot of ways. Demand can change at a moment’s notice, due to factors like seasonal changes. At the same time, you cannot bring in a large crop of full time employees in response, as you run the risk of overstaffing and incurring needless expenditure as a result.
This begs the question: How can facilities adequately adjust to the changing seasons? The answer lies with flexible staffing solutions.
What challenges do changing seasons present?
For many reasons, hospitals see spikes in demand due to seasonal changes. Every year, there are over a billion cases of seasonal influenza. It is most common in winter months, which is also round the time when families start getting together for the holidays. This makes transmitting both influenza and other diseases all the more common. Thanks to all these factors, hospitals typically see increased traffic and demand during the winter time.
Why are facilities straining during winter?
Facility operations are complex and meticulously thought-out. The fluctuations in demand and admissions that they see complicates matters. Suddenly, they do not have the manpower needed to maintain adequate staffing ratios, or the supplies necessary to account for the increased patient count. Without alternative solutions, this could severely disrupt facility operations.
How do flexible staffing solutions resolve any of this?
The major advantages of using short-term staffing solutions should be immediately obvious to most facility managers.
It provides a cost efficient solution for temporary spikes in demand for healthcare services. Facilities do not have to risk overstaffing once a pandemic, seasonal flu or accident has subsided, and they suddenly find themselves with more HCPs than they actually need. Because staffing levels are consistently manageable, both your full time and part time HCPs will be better rested and less stressed over work.
This allows them to provide their entire focus and efforts towards providing the best healthcare services possible, and boosts their morale for the foreseeable future. When HCPs feel better, they are more engaged in their work and less likely to burn out. As nursing continues to face a significant turnover crisis due to burnout, looking after and retaining staff will prove to be even more important for the foreseeable future.
What are the best flexible staffing options for seasonal flu?
Facilities have a bevy of staffing options available to them. What works best for them will ultimately depend on their own unique situations. Through agency staffing, HCPs can fill in workforce gaps quickly with short term contracts that can last weeks or even months. Facilities gain access to a robust pool of talent from across the country, and can scale up their operations without sacrificing on patient quality.
Recently, a number of per diem staffing apps have gained prominence. These are even quicker than traditional agencies, as they allow hospitals to book HCPs for single shifts and in an instant. The field is currently packed with several market options, and you want to be sure you are working with the right program
For instance; VitaWerks has gained prominence for its instant AI-matchmaking between HCPs and shifts, a convenient one-click platform that allows you to choose HCPs in your area and access the necessary information and documents, without a sweat. With VitaWerks, facilities can arrange temporary HCP shifts in a matter of hours.
