As healthcare systems strive to provide patients with the best possible care, it is essential to have a nursing staff that is well-trained, highly motivated, and available around the clock.

However, staffing shortages, budget constraints, and other challenges often make it difficult to achieve 100% nursing coverage. Here are three simple steps that can help your organization achieve this goal:.

Step 1: Assess Your Current Staffing Needs

The first step in achieving 100% nursing coverage is to assess your current staffing needs. You need to determine the number of nurses required to meet your patient care needs.

Start by analyzing patient data, census records, and admission and discharge rates to determine the number of patients requiring nursing care at any given time. Next, evaluate the number of nurses currently on staff and their skill levels and certifications. Determine if there are any gaps in staffing, such as weekends or night shifts, that require additional staffing.

Once you have a clear understanding of your staffing needs, you can determine the appropriate staffing levels that will meet your patient care needs.

You can also identify the types of nurses required, such as registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, or certified nursing assistants, and the necessary training and certification requirements for each position. This information will help you create a staff recruitment and training plan to fill any gaps in your current staffing.

Step 2: Improve Employee Retention Rates

As healthcare systems struggle with high turnover rates of nursing staff, improving employee retention rates is a significant step towards achieving 100% nursing coverage.

The recruitment and training of new nursing staff can be expensive, time-consuming and disrupts the team’s synergy and workflow. Therefore, improving employee retention rates needs to be a top priority.

Start by offering competitive salaries and employee benefits that meet or exceed industry standards.

Determine if there are any additional benefits or incentives that can encourage employees to stay, such as flexible scheduling, continuing education opportunities, or opportunities for career advancement. Providing a positive workplace culture, support, and open communication enhances staff morale, job satisfaction, and staff retention rates.

Another key factor in improving employee retention rates is providing a fair and robust employee recognition program. Nurses want to feel valued and appreciated for the work that they do, and a well-designed recognition program can help achieve this.

Recognize nurses’ achievements, skills, and contributions to the organization through monetary awards, bonuses, or opportunities to participate in continuing education.

Step 3: Optimize Staff Scheduling

Efficient and optimized staff scheduling is another key to achieving 100% nursing coverage. Scheduling can be complex and time-consuming, and balancing the needs of patients, nurses, and the organization can be a considerable challenge.

With the help of advanced scheduling software, you can create optimized schedules that meet the needs of patients, nurses, and the organization in real-time.

Consider using the data collected in step one to help create a demand-based staffing schedule. This approach will help ensure that the right nurse with the right skillset is available when needed most.

For example, during periods of high demand, employers can use more senior or experienced nurses to work with less experienced nurses to ensure adequate attention is given to all patients at times.

Real-time scheduling software lets nurses view their schedules and make requests for shift swaps, time off, and other changes, which helps improve their work-life balance and job satisfaction.

Conclusion

By following these three simple steps, healthcare systems can increase staffing levels, improve employee retention rates, and optimize staffing schedules to ultimately achieve their goal of 100% nursing coverage.

Each step contributes significantly to patient care wellness, minimal infractions, increasing confidence of patients in the hospital, and overall, a better healthcare experience.