Your Need for More Nursing Staff
Practices of all sizes find themselves occasionally in need of additional staff. The problem can be when you do need additional temporary staff and you’re not sure where to turn. Supplemental staffing could be the right answer, but you might want to assess the situation a little further.
What Tasks Need to Be Done?
Every position, especially in a busy practice, has some overlap. Take a look at what tasks need to be done and see if there are a few that you can categorize together. It can also help to get an idea how long these tasks are taking each of your employees on average. There might be some issues with processes that you can correct along the way.
Can Multiple Employees Handle Various Tasks?
When employees are cross-trained, they can often help out in other areas when they’re not as busy. This can be a fantastic way to make the most of the staff that you have on a regular basis. But if everyone is busy at the same time, that won’t be as helpful a solution as you would like. If employees aren’t cross-trained, now might be a good time to reconsider.
What Recommendations Do Current Staff Have?
Talk to your staff. They know what it’s like to be out there in the trenches. Brainstorm with them and find out what their ideas are for improving workloads. Staff often have ideas that can significantly improve processes and reduce duplication of effort, but if you’re not making them aware that you’re open to their ideas they might not share as readily. Busy work environments don’t always allow time for your staff to have time to think, but giving them a chance to share feedback works.
Do You Need to Reset Work Backlogs?
Finally, you might have such a backlog of work that bringing in temporary staff helps you to reset everything to a workable level. Get a firm idea just how large the backlog is and work from that information to estimate how much additional staff you’ll need and for approximately how long. The best part of resetting backlogs is that this can create an instant morale boost because that huge pile of work is no longer hanging over everyone’s shoulders.
Determining when your practice could truly benefit from supplemental medical staffing is easier than you might think. When you’re meeting a need that benefits staff, patients, or both, that is your best indication that you’re making the right choice.
