Staffing Value White Paper: Permanent Nursing Staff vs Traveler Nurse Staff - The best of both worlds

8/8/2019 Staffing Value White Paper: Permanent Nursing Staff vs Traveler Nurse Staff - The best of both worlds

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THE NE MINUTE WHITE PAPER

Stang Value:

Permanent Sta vs. Travelers;

The Best o Both Worlds



value

quality

experience

commitment

Medical Solutions • Stang Value: Permanent Sta vs. Travelers; The Best of Both W

The Benets:

Morale and Performance of Your Permanent Sta

First, let’s discuss sta morale. As a hiring or nursemanager these are numbers you have probably heard a

thousand times, but they are important in understandihow vital taking care o your sta is in order to benancially responsible. That’s right, taking care o your

sta is nancially responsible.

Although your permanent sta may even be asking towork extra shits right now, keep in mind that or theirlong term health and nursing career goals it may not be

in their best interest to work overtime or an extendedperiod o time. Heavy workloads have been shown to ha direct negative impact on morale and health, which i

turn can potentially lead to more unit conficts, disruptand turnover.6 Considering that 43% o nurses suerinburnout are likely to leave their jobs within a year and tcosts associated with sta turnover, it is important to ke

a watchul eye on your sta ’s morale; both or their welbeing, the well being o your patients and the nancialhealth o your acility.2

One easy way to help maintain good morale among younit is using travelers, who are able to step in right awaand do not require lengthy training programs because

they arrive experienced and ready to start work. This cahelp ease the burden on your permanent sta by helpithem avoid long hours, high Nurse to Patient ratios andultimately burnout.

Quality of Patient Care

Now let’s evaluate quality. Although your permanent st

may be willing to work extra shits, industry research hashown that the more hours they work the greater chanthey will suer burn out and make mistakes.2 And notsurprisingly, research has shown that hospitals with hig

levels o sta burnout make more mistakes and may becompromising the quality o patient care.1,4

Another aspect o the quality o patient care equation i

the Nurse to Patient ratio. Research has shown that anynumber greater than 4:1 can have a direct negative impon the quality o patient care.2 And bringing in quality

travel sta is one easy way to lit this number when youcensus levels change.

The Question:

Stang your hospital while working with a tight budgetand open shits to ll may present you with a challengingquestion:

How do you decide between nancial responsibility and

taking care o patients and the staf you love?

The good news is that you can do all three. These goals arenot mutually exclusive; in act they are just the opposite,as this One-Minute White Paper will explain.

The Opportunity:

Ater an initial evaluation o this question, having your

own sta work overtime may eel like the most nanciallysound option when budgets are limited. However, thisquestion presents an opportunity to look at your stang

strategy and the use o travelers rom a new perspective,one that helps you take care o hardworking perm sta,your patients and still be nancially responsible or yourhospital.

Oten when budgets tighten up one o the rst areas tobe cut or eliminated at a hospital is the use o temporary

sta, because they are deemed to be more expensiveand a luxury by nancial decision makers. But we alwaysrecommend that our hospital partners look at theirsituation through three areas o benets that they may not

immediately consider:

• Morale and performance of your permanent sta

• Quality of patient care

• Financial Savings

“This can help ease the burdenon your permanent staf by

helping them avoid long hours,high Nurse to Patient ratios and

ultimately burnout.“



Medical Solutions • Stang Value: Permanent Sta vs. Travelers; The Best of Both W

And in addition to the cost eectiveness and savings r

using travelers, utilizing travelers instead o permanentsta working overtime can also help you take care o patients and your perm sta by:

• Lifting the morale of permanent sta by easing their

workload and reducing overtime

• Improving your facility’s quality of care

• Decreasing Nurse to Patient ratios

The Next Steps:

1. Download the Stang Value Calculator Worksheet

and evaluate your facility’s situation

(Stang.MedicalSolutions.com/Calculator)

2. Contact a Medical Solutions Client Manager to discus

the results and create a plan o action or your hospit

Medical Solutions9101 Western Avenue • Suite 101

Omaha, Nebraska 68114

1-866-633-3548 • Stang.MedicalSolutions.com

Source Disclaimer: This report is based on the most recent research in the indu

Medical Solutions believes in using the most up to date research available to us

we are continually revisiting our white papers and calculators to make sure tha

this case when new data comes available.

1. Positive Practice Environments (International Centre o Nurses, 2007)http://www.icn.ch/matters_ppe.htm

2. Linda H. Aiken, PhD,RN; Sean P. Clarke, PhD,RN; Douglas M. Sloane, PhD; JSochalski, PhD,RN; Jerey H. Silber, MD,PhD, Hospital Nurse Stang and PaMortality, Nurse Burnout, and Job Dissatisaction (JAMA, 2002;288:1987-19http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/288/16/1987.pdf

3. Cheryl Bland Jones, RN, PhD, FAAN; Michael Gates, RN, PhD, The Costs anBenets o Nurse Turnover: A Business Case or Nurse Retention (OJIN: TheOnline Journal o Issues in Nursing, Posted 02-12-2008)http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/569393_2

4. Choosing a Travel Nursing Agency (Nursing Management, March 2003:VoNum. 3: 4-5)http://www.nursingcenter.com/Library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=4098

5. Solving the Nursing Shortage (AFSCME Publication)

http://www.afscme.org/publications/2211.cfm

6. Timothy M. Dall, M; Yaozhu J. Chen, MP; Rita Furst Seiert, PhD; Peggy J.Maddox, PhD; and Paul F. Hogan, MS, The Economic Value o ProessionalNursing (AORN Journal, 2008)http://ems.aorn.org/docs_assets/55B250E0-9779-5C0D-1DDC8177C9B4C8EB/

BBF23965-1F29-E23E-B847564738087044/Nursing%20Article%20Jan%20200

Financial Savings

Finally, let’s take a look at the numbers and how using

travelers is actually a cost savings. Paying your permanentsta overtime pay at the standard time and a hal ratecan end up costing your hospital more per hour than thestandard bill rates o most healthcare stang companies.

In act, i you have three sta working one extra shit aweek, you can start to see savings by placing just onetraveler to cover those three overtime shits at a normal

pay rate.

In addition to these up-ront costs are many hidden andhigh costs associated with the turnover that can occur as

a result o nurse burnout; burnout caused by high Nurseto Patient ratios and high overtime hours due to toomuch reliance on perm sta to ll open hours.1 Industry

research estimates that it costs hospitals $50,000 per RNin visible or invisible turnover costs to replace a nurse.3 Add in the $60,000 annually in quality o care savings thatoccur or each additional ull-time RN employed (Dall)

and the soundness o the decision to sta with travelersinstead o overtime perm sta becomes easy to see.

The Payo:

As you can see it is possible to ocus on your three goals asa nurse manager o taking care o patients, taking care o the sta you depend on every day and taking care o the

bottom line at the same time without sacricing one orthe other. Summing up, using travelers is a sound nancialdecision or your acility because o the:

• Cost equivalency of a traveler working three normal

shifts versus permanent sta working three overtime shifts

• Turnover costs resulting from burnout associated with

high Nurse to Patient ratios and overtime hours• Quality of care savings from employing more full-time RNs

“... You can start to see savings by placing just one traveler to cover those three overtime shits at a

normal pay rate.”

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Staffing Value White Paper: Permanent Nursing Staff vs Traveler Nurse Staff - The best of both worlds