11 Solutions to Solve the Nursing Shortage Crisis

As the population in the Western world gets older and older, governments are forced to invest enormous sums to keep their healthcare systems afloat. Countries with public healthcare, in particular, find it hard to maintain all these buildings, equipment, and staff from limited budgets.

The changing needs have also affected our access to medical assistance. The number of new doctors and nurses who finish school is simply not enough to treat this many patients. To make matters worse, not many people are willing to do this job despite good earnings. 

In the last few years, we’ve seen a major shortage of nurses who can no longer keep up with massive weekly workload. So, in this article, we’ll explore 11 strategies that might help solve the crisis.

11 Solutions for Nursing Crisis

Hospitals that want to address nurse shortage have to be proactive in their recruitment and retention strategies. They must consider hiring foreign staff and partnering with schools to expedite onboarding. Furthermore, creating mentorship programs is another strategy that might help with the process. 

1. Recruit International Nurses

Recruiting foreign staff is one of the most popular and straightforward tactics for filling the nurse gap. By cooperating with an international nursing agency, you can be certain that you’ll never lack a workforce.  

The best thing about international recruiting is that it also enriches your current staff. This type of exchange will expose your doctors and nurses to some other medical practices that they can incorporate into their daily patient treatment. 

2. Cooperate With Foreign Agencies 

Besides hiring private recruitment companies, you can also cooperate with public organizations. Most countries have employment agencies that help their local talent find jobs. 

By tapping into the source, you can completely circumvent third-party providers. This will lead to major savings for your clinic and you won’t suffer any delays on top of that. 

3. Work With Local Schools

The best way to secure top talent is by cooperating with local schools. Create a nurse pipeline that will ensure your hospital always has enough staff. 

The best thing about this strategy is that you’ll onboard workers from your city. These fresh graduates won’t have to worry about renting an apartment in another city, which will significantly reduce their monthly expenses. 

4. Consider Other Experts

Besides fresh graduates and foreign nurses, you should also consider reaching out to veterans. Use LinkedIn Ads and post a job on the biggest sites such as Monster.com. 

Although hiring these experts might be a bit more expensive, they will provide your hospital with enormous experience. This is especially valuable if you have a lot of young nurses who need guidance. 

5. Attend Events 

If you’re looking to build a nurse database, you should attend local hiring events. This is a great opportunity to meet up with nurses finishing their schools and streamline your onboarding. 

Besides local events, you should also create informational campaigns, mentorship programs, and workshops to connect with these future medical experts. 

6. Plan Future Needs 

If you want to have enough nurses on your staff, you shouldn’t solely focus on onboarding. Instead, you should also spend some time devising retention strategies that will help you keep your current team.

The best way to do so is by creating a long-term hiring plan. As you’re well aware of your seasonal needs and retention rates, you can create a strategy for filling the gaps as soon as they appear. Always have several candidates as a backup so they can jump in when the need arises.

7. Flexible scheduling

The nursing profession is much harder than some people realize. Long work hours, emergencies, and numerous shifts make it hard to find a work-life balance. Perhaps the best way to alleviate some of that stress is by offering flexible scheduling. 

Among other things, you should allow nurses to swap shifts and participate in schedule creation. Learn more about their appointments in the upcoming month and create a schedule that will help them tackle their family obligations. 

8. Enhance Benefits

Nothing beats good salaries and employee benefits when it comes to retention. If you wish to keep the same staff for a while, you should introduce competitive packages, which include solid retirement plans, salaries, health insurance, and other perks. 

Unfortunately, providing these financial benefits might stretch your budget. This is why you should look toward non-financial or cheap incentives. For example, you can allow your staff to participate in creating schedules as well as give them gym memberships and free food while on the premises. 

9. Build a Positive Culture

To retain your nurses, you should create an inviting workplace culture. Make sure everyone is treated with respect and allowed to exercise their cultural and religious routine. Offer your staff a chance to improve their skills through workshops and other forms of training.

Introduce rewards for your nurses; even a shoutout can go a long way. We also recommend that you create a culture of transparency and accountability where everyone will feel at ease admitting their mistakes.

10. Allow Career Development 

Give your nurses a chance to progress through the ranks. Introduce vertical and horizontal promotions, giving your staff a chance to learn something new and bump up their paychecks. 

Internal workshops are also great for new nurses. You can pair up your experienced staff with fresh graduates so that the newbies can learn more about the hospital’s daily routine and policies. 

11. Enhance Onboarding

If you wish to improve your employer-employee relationships, you should introduce orientation programs. These programs usually last a few weeks and include a combination of mentorship, classroom training, and practical experience. 

Last Thoughts

Nurse shortages are a major issue for employers in the West. Not only should you have enough hands on deck, but you must also ensure these medical experts have the necessary tools. 

The best way to tackle this staffing problem is by introducing a mixture of hiring and retention strategies. Find a way to streamline your hiring process while introducing various perks to entice nurses to stay with your company.