How Technology Can Solve the Nurse Staffing Shortage

The healthcare industry is facing an ongoing nurse staffing shortage - and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made matters worse, forcing many nursing professionals to the sidelines. But for the nurses that remained in the workforce, the gig economy, enabled by technology, has opened new, non-traditional opportunities to earn.

How Technology Can Solve the Nurse Staffing Shortage

Nursing shortages have long troubled the nursing and healthcare industry. The aging US population means more people with comorbidities and requires more acute and chronic care management than ever before. Due to the ever-aging population, nursing professionals are in higher demand than ever before. However, these nursing professionals are spread thin, working longer hours in an increasingly demanding work environment. And because of this, one million nurses are expected to retire by 2030. In addition, nursing programs across the country struggle to expand their capacity to train the increasing number of nursing professionals needed to provide quality care to our communities. These factors contribute to an inefficient marketplace for nurses, the effects of which are especially pronounced during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Even after the worst of the pandemic is over, the demand for nursing professionals is here to stay. And in a constantly evolving industry, nursing work isn’t getting any easier. During the pandemic nurses needed to get trained quickly and effectively on how to stop the spread of COVID-19. Training like this will only be increasingly needed to meet patient’s needs in the ever-changing nursing field. All of this extra stress and lack of sufficient staffing can lead to burnout - which not only has negative implications on an individual nurse’s health, but can also harm patient care: studies show that nurse burnout can negatively impact patient infection rates, patient satisfaction, and the overall quality of care found in healthcare facilities.

At the height of the pandemic, many nursing professionals took time off, out of fear of exposing themselves, or their families, to the virus. This sidelined workforce only further exacerbated the nursing shortage. And while the COVID-19 outbreak placed an intense strain on the entire healthcare industry, by far one of the most impacted were skilled nursing and long-term care facilities. These post-acute facilities, which care for populations most vulnerable to COVID-19, lacked the funding and resources necessary to meet the heightened demand for full-time staff.  However, for many nursing professionals looking for side hustles to earn more during the pandemic or temporarily coming out of retirement to fight the virus, new and endless opportunities presented themselves, especially at long-term care facilities where the demand for temporary work surged. Enter gig work. 

Nurses and nursing facilities need new, better ways to work.

According to an NPR report, the pandemic has intensified the country’s nursing shortage but “created opportunities for nurses willing to take on the riskiest work. The booming gig economy has given some a chance to double their pay.” So smart staffing and scheduling solutions don’t just help facilities, it helps the nursing professionals. While traditional nursing gigs often have set schedules and little flexibility, gig and per diem nursing jobs give nursing professionals a greater work-life balance. So they can choose when they want to work, and take time off when they need it, whether it’s to further their education or spend time with family, without sacrificing job security. 

But it doesn’t just provide nurses with a better work/life balance - it’s integral to solving staffing shortages at nursing facilities. With advanced data science, gig nursing has emerged as an efficient way for nursing facilities to staff on-demand shifts. Gig nursing has historically been inefficient due to pen and paper processes that often lead to games of phone tag. However, the adoption of cutting-edge technologies now enables facilities to predict when they need to optimize their schedule and dynamically fill their gaps in care with local nurses. So predictive algorithms take the busy work out of staffing and automate an outdated process.

The gig economy hasn’t just helped fill shifts more quickly during the pandemic, it’s provided a substantial avenue for nurses to explore new and desirable employment models they may not have considered before. While the pandemic will hopefully soon be a thing of the past, the nursing shortage will continue to loom large for years to come if we don’t embrace new ways to work. To eradicate big problems like burnout, staffing shortages, and retention, the tech-enabled gig economy proves to be the future of work. 

While nursing colleges across the country need to broaden their programs to a wider audience, empowering the next generation of nursing professionals is a start. At IntelyCare, we've launched a $5,000 scholarship aimed at helping the next generation of healthcare heroes get into the workforce.

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IntelyCare

About IntelyCare

(Trusted Brand)

At IntelyCare, we believe there’s a better way. A better way for Healthcare Heroes to do the work they love. And for facilities to engage and find the professionals they need to fill their shifts and make sure their patients are well cared for. We aspire to build a smarter healthcare staffing & scheduling platform that gives facilities the ability to manage and automatically optimize and add staff as needed. Our app gives nursing professionals the flexibility to pick up shifts when and where they want at the pay they deserve. By meeting the needs of healthcare facilities and nursing professionals, we’re helping ensure that patients receive the world-class care they deserve.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

How about we take care of the nurses who are are still struggling in the workforce before we say we have a critical shortage and always try to get more into the field?

I realize we are  only a commodity/liability/cattle to our employer, nothing more or less. But I tell you what, when the young ones who have been at it a year or less are already screaming to leave the bedside or nursing altogether, I don't think we need more efficient or better nursing schools (except to prepare them for the reality of nursing today).

We have an" employer does not give a damn problem!!"

  We are churning out plenty of nurses but increasingly they feel like cannon fodder when the enter the work place, realizing it's not at all what they would expect and never will be.

And then there are those of us who have been at it a while, who envisioned doing it much longer when we started out,  who are looking at any way to retire sooner including selling what we have, to get the hell out.

It's not a shortage of "stock". It's a shortage of nurses who want to stay. Someone please take  care of those of  us who are here already!

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Very generous to let healthcare heroes apply for free.

The nursing shortage will be solved in no time.

 

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

A better staffing system and everyone is deliriously happy?  Will there be health care benefits with the new gig economy?  If it was just money the gig economy works fine as it is.

Is there really a nursing shortage?  That tends to wax and wane and there is a geographical component.

SmilingBluEyes summed it up pretty well.  Treating us like fresh meat is a much bigger factor than spiffy scheduling software.

And nurses didn't need to be specially "trained" to deal with covid.  Infection control practices (for anything contagious) is part of basic nursing education.

 

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I think if more floor nurses were involved in management, instead of degree quality nurses, nursing concerns and needs would be better addressed with subsequent satisfaction, enabling current nurses to feel better and want to stay on. 

When you have bean counters and degree nurses who haven't got the confidence to stand up for nurses in general, it's when the imbalance of power occurs. Too often I have seen Degree nurses get rolled over by physicians and management. They are so insecure that they gave up their rights of being nurses to join management and suffer lay offs for downsizing for 'supposed fiscal reasons', while CEOs and board members are rewarded lucratively instead of hiring more staff. 

I have yet to be convinced that degree nurse administers better care than a diploma or a well trained nurse. I know who I would rather work with. Charting doesn't equate to quality care, experience does! 

I believe that nursing schools have spun a tale to make money, because the level of care doesn't differ. Management is a people skill and not a college course. The old system of training pre college ala diploma nurses would solve the shortage problem and then allow those nurses to choose if they want to pursue management by additional courses. 

The apprenticeship system in Northern Europe works absolutely fine in many job environments and produces excellent results. It's essentially the old diploma system. I didn't spend $60k on my degree to be doing the same thing that a good LPN or a Diploma nurse does when assignments are handed out. And I get paid marginally more for with the increased responsibility. 

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Specializes in CCU,ICU,ORTHO,M/S.

Safe Staffing legislation is the only thing that’s going to save our patients and ourselves. In Pennsylvania alone there at least 20,000 nurse is not working as nurses because of the way we were treated and healthcare facilities. Safe Staffing saves lives. Get involved Safe Staffing legislation in your state and “Nurses Take DC “ and “The Last Pizza Party “. Those of us that are doing the bedside nursing need to fight for ourselves and our patients. If we don’t get noisy invisible, nothing will change and more people will die.

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My brain hurts thinking about this.

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Specializes in Travel, Home Health, Med-Surg.

Completely agree with others who have stated that there is no shortage of nurses. Mostly shortage of bedside nurses who get tired of the crap, and it seems faster than ever these days.

If anyone is considering a gig job I would recommend looking into any regulations (state etc) as many gig workers have been forced out of work due to some current laws etc. 

Not sure if this article is talking about gig per se, and the app probably helps, but I would check it out thoroughly prior to making a jump. You don't want to quit a job and do gig work and find out later you are out of a job or something else you just didn't think about/didn't know.

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Specializes in Healthcare Staffing.
On 5/11/2021 at 5:06 PM, SmilingBluEyes said:

How about we take care of the nurses who are are still struggling in the workforce before we say we have a critical shortage and always try to get more into the field?

I realize we are  only a commodity/liability/cattle to our employer, nothing more or less. But I tell you what, when the young ones who have been at it a year or less are already screaming to leave the bedside or nursing altogether, I don't think we need more efficient or better nursing schools (except to prepare them for the reality of nursing today).

We have an" employer does not give a damn problem!!"

  We are churning out plenty of nurses but increasingly they feel like cannon fodder when the enter the work place, realizing it's not at all what they would expect and never will be.

And then there are those of us who have been at it a while, who envisioned doing it much longer when we started out,  who are looking at any way to retire sooner including selling what we have, to get the hell out.

It's not a shortage of "stock". It's a shortage of nurses who want to stay. Someone please take  care of those of  us who are here already!

Hi there, 

We hear you loud and clear. We agree - the nurses that are currently in the field are struggling. For us, we don’t want just want more new nurses. It’s important that there are enough nurses staffed in facilities - a gig model allows for that. With our platform, facilities can flex full-time and part-time nurses, and when their full-time needs to take a break, they actually can do that because we have per diem nurses waiting to step in. The hope is that if the gaps in care are filled and nurses have opportunities to choose when they work and don’t, it can help reduce burnout and improve life for full-time nurses, part-time nurses, and administrators, and for patients. 

 IntelyCare was founded specifically to improve the lives of nursing professionals that are currently in the field. 

At IntelyCare, our mission is to empower nursing professionals to transform the way they work. That means giving nurses new opportunities to work when they want, where they want, at the pay they want. Our nursing professionals can browse, filter, and pick up shifts that work for them, all from our easy-to-use app. As a W-2 employer, we also make sure we give our nursing professionals benefits and freedom, and flexibility. So, they can opt-in to our health insurance and 401(k), and we also provide them with additional securities, like , workers compensation, and employer-paid taxes. 

For us, it’s not just about getting more nurses in the field for the sake of having more nurses. We believe nurses need new, more accommodating, flexible ways to work. If you’d like to learn more about IntelyCare and our mission, you can read more here. 

If you’d like to read why some of our nursing professionals choose IntelyCare, we encourage you to read Dana Hess’s story.
 

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Specializes in Healthcare Staffing.
7 hours ago, Daisy4RN said:

Completely agree with others who have stated that there is no shortage of nurses. Mostly shortage of bedside nurses who get tired of the crap, and it seems faster than ever these days.

If anyone is considering a gig job I would recommend looking into any regulations (state etc) as many gig workers have been forced out of work due to some current laws etc. 

Not sure if this article is talking about gig per se, and the app probably helps, but I would check it out thoroughly prior to making a jump. You don't want to quit a job and do gig work and find out later you are out of a job or something else you just didn't think about/didn't know.

Hi Daisy, 

 

You’re right to call out the pitfalls of gig work. The important thing to note with gig work is that not all gig work is created equal. Some per diem nurse employers hire nurses as 1099, which is contract work. Other employers, like IntelyCare, prioritize hiring nurses as W-2 workers, which means they are actual employees of the company. That means they get to enjoy all the benefits of per diem work, like the freedom to choose when and where they work, but they also have the option to take advantage of benefits like healthcare and dental coverage, life insurance, and disability plans. At IntelyCare, we also provide matching 401(k) programs, which can help you save for retirement. And most importantly, W2 employers will cover their employees for – so if something does go wrong, the liability falls on the employer, not the nurse. You can find more information about W-2 vs.1099 work here. 


Our co-founder, Chris Caulfield, RN, NP-C, experienced nurse burnout first hand as a nurse working at an understaffed nursing facility. He found himself struggling when he was so often mandated to work overtime, or stuck on a short-staffed floor.

At IntelyCare, it’s our mission to empower nursing professionals to transform the way they work. That means giving them the power to choose when they work, and where they work. If they don’t like a facility, they don’t have to go back. And if they don’t love working weekends, they never have to. But, if nurses love IntelyCare and make the choice to work full-time, they have the option to pick up more shifts with us and take advantage of all the benefits we have to offer. And, they have the freedom to stay with their current employer, and test us out, if they’re not 100% sure about making the switch to IntelyCare. If you would like to learn more about how IntelyCare is giving nurses access to a better work/life balance, you can find more resources here.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
22 minutes ago, IntelyCare said:

Hi there, 

We hear you loud and clear. We agree - the nurses that are currently in the field are struggling. For us, we don’t want just want more new nurses. It’s important that there are enough nurses staffed in facilities - a gig model allows for that. With our platform, facilities can flex full-time and part-time nurses, and when their full-time needs to take a break, they actually can do that because we have per diem nurses waiting to step in. The hope is that if the gaps in care are filled and nurses have opportunities to choose when they work and don’t, it can help reduce burnout and improve life for full-time nurses, part-time nurses, and administrators, and for patients. 

 IntelyCare was founded specifically to improve the lives of nursing professionals that are currently in the field. 

At IntelyCare, our mission is to empower nursing professionals to transform the way they work. That means giving nurses new opportunities to work when they want, where they want, at the pay they want. Our nursing professionals can browse, filter, and pick up shifts that work for them, all from our easy-to-use app. As a W-2 employer, we also make sure we give our nursing professionals benefits and freedom and flexibility. So, they can opt-in to our health insurance and 401(k), and we also provide them with additional securities, like malpractice insurance, workers compensation, and employer-paid taxes. 

For us, it’s not just about getting more nurses in the field for the sake of having more nurses. We believe nurses need new, more accommodating, flexible ways to work. If you’d like to learn more about IntelyCare and our mission, you can read more here. 

If you’d like to read why some of our nursing professionals choose IntelyCare, we encourage you to read Dana Hess’s story.
 

IF all this is absolutely true and it can truly happen maybe it's not too late for future nurses. But it's FAR too late for many of us. And the experience being wasted losing nurses by attrition (nurses running away from horrendous condition let's just be real)----- is unacceptable.

Thank you.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

The only way for this to work is for hospitals, nursing homes and other health care employers to be actually willing to PAY to have more nurses at work.

It doesn't matter if the nurse is 1099, W2 or WD40.  We don't work for free and the hospital doesn't want to pay us.  Until you can pry the purse strings out of the bean counters' hands it's not happening.

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