Action to Support the Increased Need for Nurses

Written by a member of our Healthcare Leadership team:

I recently reviewed a study from McKinsey Consulting that reviewed the alarming rate in which registered nurses and LPNs are considering leaving direct patient care. This prompted our SkillGigs team to dig into the data deeper to produce an article ‘Crisis Mode is Still 'On' for Registered Nurses’ because let’s face it, as the pandemic shock and awe wears off for most of us, our healthcare professionals are still in crisis. This McKinsey report calls out the rate at which nurses have reportedly planned to leave the workforce over the past two years is higher than in the past decade. The study also shows that there could be an extreme deficient of up to 450,000 nurses by 2025 which is a 10-20 percent shortage of nurses needed for patient care. As someone who has worked in the health care industry for decades, the discussion around shortage predates a pandemic. But the rate in which we are seeing this accelerate needs to be addressed.?I recommend that you check out SkillGig’s article that gives more contents to the impact, the rise of travel nurses, and additional shortage details. However, I wanted to focus on action plans for this particular post.?

According to McKinsey, the United States must at least triple the number of new graduates and the workforce for at least the next three years to meet the country’s nursing staffing needs. That rate is next to impossible to be considered realistic. We cannot depend on new net graduates at that rate but instead need to consider other steps to close the gap between supply and demand. In addition, federal and state governments, healthcare providers, private-sector groups, and society must all work together to address the problem. To help satisfy the increased need for nurses, here are other potential opportunities:

• ?Make nursing a more appealing career option by establishing a more visible career path and showing potential applicants how they can excel in the profession. McKinsey & Company also recommended that universities seek and train fresh talent from international programs or related industries and encourage allied health professionals to pursue careers in nursing.
• Increase the number of educational and medical positions available. Even if hundreds of people applied to nursing school, there aren't enough educators, open spaces, mentors, or clinical rotation spots. To attract talent, McKinsey recommends monetary incentives for educators and improved flexibility in teaching models like special collaborations, part-time work, and rotational teaching.
• Redesign clinical education through new collaborations. For example, healthcare providers might collaborate with schools and universities to identify and address skill gaps and connect employers and individuals.
• Develop new care delivery methods. For example, customers book their flights, select their seats, and handle other tasks previously handled by the airline. Healthcare professionals can use a similar tactic to optimize nurses’ energy and time and use analytics to improve efficiency in deployment and planning.
• Empower healthcare workers to take their careers into their own hands, lessening their dependency on traditional agency staffing models. Talent platforms, like our SkillGigs e-commerce style marketplace gives all the control back to the user so they can demand more pay and seek out opportunities that match their requirements and skills.

Crisis mode is still on and will remain on. It’s imperative that we all consider action steps to close the gap as well as continue to support the hard-working nurse professionals in our lives.