In the face of the healthcare employment crisis, many hospitals are cutting benefits and other areas of their budgets to control costs. Retaining healthcare workers remains a critical priority, but traditional incentives like raises and bonuses currently aren’t an option. Fortunately, there are still ways you can retain your providers in an economically challenged environment. Here are some strategies to consider.
1. Offer Flexible Scheduling
Flexible work hours are among the most sought-after benefits for healthcare workers. It’s not easy to offer a flexible work schedule, especially in environments that must be staffed around the clock, such as the NICU. Yet, you can still give employees autonomy over their schedules by allowing them to put in requests to work specific days within a scheduling period, allowing employees who wish to have a consistent schedule to do so, and alternating less desirable periods, such as weekends.
2. Reduce Administrative Tasks
Quality patient care remains the topmost priority for hospitals, so it must also be the priority for NNPs and other providers, too. Reduce the administrative tasks your healthcare workers have to perform in any way you can. For instance, healthcare workers typically spend 45 minutes each day on email — time that could be better spent interacting with patients. Fragmented internal communications can leave workers having to sift through various emails to get important updates. A workspace employee app could simplify communication and decrease their administrative workload.
3. Recognize & Reward Employees
You may not be able to offer financial incentives for healthcare workers at this point in time, but that doesn’t mean their efforts should go overlooked. Employee appreciation can have a positive impact on both overall business outcomes and patient safety. Make sure supervisors are recognizing the contributions and achievements of NNPs and other healthcare workers by offering praise, whether through direct one-on-one interactions or via an internal communications platform.
4. Offer Resources to Address Burnout
Employee burnout seems like an inevitable aspect of healthcare work today. While prevention is the best approach, until hospitals are sufficiently staffed, it’s also important to implement resources to address burnout if and when it happens. Access to mental health apps, free telehealth therapy sessions, and free gym memberships could go a long way in boosting employees’ emotional and mental wellness.
5. Improve Recruiting & Onboarding
When turnover rates are high, hospitals have to look beyond simply filling positions. Recruiting with an emphasis on job satisfaction can pay off in higher retention rates over the long term. This starts with recruiting the right candidates for your openings. Even if you desperately need more nursing staff, putting in the time and effort to hire the right people is preferable than simply filling vacancies and facing the same dilemma months down the road. When it comes to attracting leading NNPs, competitive sign-on bonuses may not be an option currently. Yet, well-organized onboarding and tangible benefits, such as competitive vacation time, can be compelling incentives and may lead to better job satisfaction from the start.
With current healthcare staffing shortages, recruiting NNPs is more challenging than ever. Ensearch supports your in house recruiting effort and identifies highly qualified candidates for your hard to fill positions. In addition we offer locum tenens staffing to provide relief to your existing team and prevent burnout until you onboard full time NNPs into your NICU. Learn more about how our staffing solutions could benefit your hospital by completing a Comparative Needs Analysis today.
