Most health system executives would describe the severity of the nursing shortage in their organization as critical, but many hospitals aren’t employing the right tactics for hiring and retaining nurses, according to a report released Tuesday by nurse staffing platform Incredible Health.
The report argues that hospitals would have an easier time hiring and retaining nurses if they focused more on the things workers want most from their employers — such as flexible scheduling and professional development opportunities.
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Incredible Health surveyed 100 health system executives across the U.S. Nearly 70% of them said they don’t have the adequate nursing staff to respond to another major health crisis like the pandemic.
One of the biggest concerns in the hiring process is the average tenure of a health system nurse, the report said. Health system executives identified previous experience and qualifications as the two top factors they’re looking for during hiring — but 40% of respondents admitted that more than a quarter of their nurses have less than a year of experience.
Overall, 53% of health system nurses have an average tenure of less than five years at their employer, according to the report.
“The challenge that issue poses is one of safety and quality,” said Incredible Health CEO Iman Abuzeid in a recent interview. “When you have more nurses that are less experienced and if you’re not careful, your medication errors increase and your readmissions increase. Your errors essentially increase, so many leaders have put in place proper training and onboarding, meaning more oversight from more experienced nurses and from managers to make sure that patient safety and care quality is not compromised.”
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In general, the report showed a significant chasm between what nurses look for out of a job and what health systems offer to hire and retain their nursing workforce.
For example, flexible scheduling is a high priority for many nurses, but most health systems aren’t recognizing this as a hiring differentiator. Health system executives reported that 80% of younger nurses have asked for less stringent scheduling — but only 11% of respondents said they actually provided flexible hours.
“There’s a very clear desire for nurses — particularly younger nurses like the Gen Z cohort — to have more flexible scheduling. To be honest, they are in a position to request and demand that because there’s a huge labor shortage and nurses sort of have the upper hand now. They can be quite selective about which employers they go with, and they’re more likely to go with employers offering flexible scheduling historically,” Abuzeid declared.
Hospitals may be hesitant to transition from one type of schedule to various types of schedules because that creates more administrative work for nurse managers — but unfortunately that is “what the talent wants” and they have the advantage right now, Abuzeid said.
The report also revealed that health systems could benefit from focusing more on career advancement and professional development opportunities for nurses. About a quarter of nurses cited limited career advancement opportunities as a factor that would cause them to exit the nursing field before retirement, but many hospitals are not prioritizing these programs as part of their hiring and retention strategy.
Health systems that implement more professional advancement programs for nurses do a better job of retaining their workforce, Abuzeid explained. Examples of these programs include courses for nurses to move into management and cross-training programs in which they can become certified in new specialties.
“We work with over 700 hospitals and health systems at Incredible Health,” Abuzeid said. “Where we’re seeing the most success is when the hospital leaders match their strategy and tactics with what nurses want.”
Photo: Fly View Productions, Getty Images
