Although many hospitals have long since discovered the benefits of locum tenens and are taking advantage of them, far too many aren’t fully educated about their options in hiring for these positions. If your NNP team is stressed and overworked, or you’re paying too much in overtime and still falling short, hiring locum tenens practitioners can be a beautiful solution to these issues.
Here are six ways that hiring a locum can help your hospital.
1. Infusing new expertise into your unit
The NNP role varies in different parts of the country and in different units. A fresh face from a new unit brings a valuable new skill set to your team.
2. Some locum providers transition to full-time employees.
In these cases, this affords you the opportunity to see the provider in action before hiring permanently, as well as how she meshes with your existing team. How costly of a mistake is hiring the wrong person?
3. Saving money on overtime
Depending upon your internal equity structure, locums can actually save you money in comparison to the overtime you’re paying your existing NNPs. This simple yet often overlooked fact can save your facility precious dollars.
4. Protecting your outcomes
As a unit geared toward outcomes and reputation, having an overly-taxed team could result in significant consequences, which is something that cannot even be measured in dollars.
5. Supporting your existing staff
In an industry where morale is king, not properly staffing tells your workforce that you don’t care about them and see them as a commodity. Studies show that in environments where morale is high and the staff feels appreciated, performance is also higher. Additionally, if your staff is (or feels) overworked it is possible that some of them may quit and move onto greener pastures. So as a result, you have now compounded your problem..
A great example of this in action is a client of ours in the upper Midwest. They hired locum practitioners through ENSEARCH to provide their existing staff weekends off while sending several staff nurses through NNP school. This not only provided the coverage they needed but also held the positions open for the students. This boosted the morale of the existing team by demonstrating the hospital’s appreciation and promoting internally. This client of ours was able to give their NNP team a weekend-free schedule for almost two years!
6. Complying with FMLA protocol
Locums are a simple solution for complying with FMLA protocol for medical leaves of absence. The last thing you want to do is expose yourself to this risk, especially when there are options out there to avoid it.
Still not sure if a Locum Tenens NNP is right for your NICU? Talking to someone about your specific needs is the first step to filling a position, whether you’d simply like to learn more about your options, or if your unit needed a replacement yesterday. Our typical turnaround time in providing qualified, hit-the-ground-running locum tenens NNP resumes is typically 48 to 72 hours. You have nothing to lose, and a lot of information to gain, with one phone call.
If your hospital has used Locum Tenens NNPs, we would love to hear about your experience. Please comment below!
