Navigating nurse shortages: Medsquirrels innovative solutions for travel nurse staffing
Finding the right nurses to care for patients can be complex. Sometimes, hospitals and clinics experience a staff shortage, leaving them struggling to provide the care patients need. This is where travel nurses can help. They offer their expertise to different healthcare facilities for short-term assignments, bridging the gaps and ensuring patients receive the required care. However, staffing with travel nurses comes with its own set of challenges. This article will explore these hurdles and discuss how MedSquirrels addresses these issues.
The travel nurse conundrum
Imagine a hospital bustling with patients, each needing care and attention. Now, picture a shortage of nurses, leaving some patients waiting longer than they should for treatment. This scenario is all too common, with hospitals nationwide grappling with staffing shortages. Enter travel nurses – skilled professionals who embark on short-term assignments to lend a helping hand. While travel nurses offer a lifeline to understaffed facilities, staffing with them presents challenges.
Challenge 1: Finding the right fit
One of the biggest hurdles in staffing with travel nurses is finding the right fit for your facility. Each healthcare setting has its unique culture and needs, and it’s crucial to find nurses who can seamlessly integrate into the team and hit the ground running. However, sifting through countless resumes and conducting interviews can be time-consuming and daunting.
Insight: According to a survey by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, there will be a shortage of over 200,000 nurses by 2030. This shortage underscores the importance of finding efficient way to recruit and retain nursing talent, including travel nurses.
How MedSquirrels can help
MedSquirrels offers a streamlined solution to the staffing dilemma. Our intuitive platform allows healthcare facilities to specify their requirements and preferences, enabling them to find the perfect match for their team quickly and efficiently. With MedSquirrels, facilities have access to a vast network of qualified travel nurses, making it easier to find the right fit without the hassle.
Challenge 2: Managing credentials and compliance
Another challenge in staffing travel nurses is managing credentials and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements. Nurses must undergo thorough credentialing to meet the necessary qualifications and licensing standards. Additionally, facilities must stay on top of ever-changing regulations and paperwork, adding to the administrative burden.
Insight: According to the American Staffing Association, 62% of healthcare facilities report difficulty filling open positions. This difficulty is compounded when it comes to travel nursing, as facilities must navigate the complexities of credentialing and compliance for temporary staff.
How MedSquirrels can help
MedSquirrels acts as the employer of record for travel nurses, handling all credentialing, licensing, and compliance requirements on behalf of the facility. This relieves healthcare administrators of the tedious paperwork and ensures that all nurses placed through MedSquirrels meet the necessary standards and regulations.
Challenge 3: Cost considerations
While travel nurses provide much-needed relief to understaffed facilities, their services come at a cost. Travel expenses, housing stipends, and higher hourly rates can strain an already tight budget, making it challenging for some facilities to afford the assistance they need.
Insight: According to the Glassdoor 2024 salary calculator, the average hourly rate paid for an experienced nurse is $70/hour. If we include the agency markup (~40%) and MSP markup (~ 6.5%) the bill rate to facilities goes up to $105/hour.
How MedSquirrels can help
MedSquirrels offers a cost-effective alternative to traditional staffing methods. By cutting out intermediaries and streamlining the recruitment process, MedSquirrels helps facilities save on staffing expenses without compromising quality. Our transparent pricing solution with the model of charging payroll cost and a flat license fee rate, the same nurse is paid the same but billed at ~$85/hour.
Conclusion
Staffing with travel nurses presents unique challenges for healthcare facilities, from finding the right fit to managing compliance and controlling costs. However, these challenges can be overcome with the right tools and support. MedSquirrels offers a comprehensive solution to the staffing dilemma, empowering facilities to find qualified travel nurses quickly, manage compliance efficiently, and save on staffing costs. In an era of nursing shortages and healthcare demands, MedSquirrels is the partner that facilities need to navigate the complexities of staffing with travel nurses and ensure that patients receive the care they deserve.
