Staffing Robot - Healthcare Staffing and Technology Blog

Perks or Practice Environment? Shift Seen in What Nurses Value Most

2009-11-11T08:32:26-08:00

More and more hospitals are figuring out that the work environment is a key attribute to retaining top healthcare professional talent. Pay and benefits are a huge motivator, but a good work environment focused on providing quality patient care and treating healthcare professionals properly is perhaps the best motivator for long term retention.

In recent times, we’ve seen a shift to them focusing on the work environment rather than financial incentives,” said Joni Sperry, employment manager at Southwest General Health Center in Middleburg Heights, Ohio. The financial incentives help get the nurses here, but that’s not what keeps them here.

Offering healthcare professionals greater flexibility over their work schedules and allowing them to participate in the day to day operational decision making is also a great way to create a productive work environment for retaining key staff.

This article from nursezone.com speaks to the shift in what nurses and other clinical staff are looking for in their work environments.

Make Your Nomination for the Staffing Industry Innovator Award

2009-11-10T08:59:26-08:00

The Staffing Industry Analysts is asking for nominations for the "Staffing Innovator of the Year" award. The award will go to honor a person or company that has contributed a significant innovation toward the positive development of the staffing industry ecosystem.

No doubt you're having a hard time deciding between a certain healthcare staffing blogger or a particular healthcare VMS company that has completely changed how hospitals manage their staffing agencies across the U.S. However, don't forget about the other companies out there also doing there part to innovate this industry:

Med Staff On-Call - In the very near future Med Staff On-Call's approach to staffing could become the medical staffing industry standard. Their entire recruitment and on-boarding process is done on-line with technology. They also communicate job orders and receive confirmations from their staff in the same way. This process allows them to save their clients money, pay their staff more and keep their overhead low. A truly winning business model.
Clearview - Clearview makes the best product on the market for managing your business as a staffing agency. There is no second. They also have a suite of other products for nurse competency testing, recruiting, application tracking, online clinical skill checklists and electronic signature documents. They continue to put out new products and grow their already impressive market share.
TempWorks - TempWorks makes great software for staffing agencies. It's not specific to healthcare so I can't say that I've used it or even seen that much of it. However, following their updates and blog - Staffing Talk - makes it clear that these guys are big innovators in the staffing industry.
Amistaff - Amistaff is the parent company of Nurse Testing, eSig Tech and Blue Sky Medical Staffing Software. More healthcare staffing companies use Nurse Testing than any other similar product on the market. Currently, Amistaff is planning on launching a new product called Prophecy in early 2010. This product will incorporate clinical, behavioral and situational assessments with their Nurse Testing product. If it lives up to the hype it could prove to be a game changer for hospitals recruit, screen and hire healthcare staff.
ShiftHound - The former founders of Bidshift (now Concerro) have started a new company called ShiftHound. ShiftHound delivers a very light weight, yet robust core scheduling tool for hospitals to manage their day to day staffing. ShiftHound is the first of many companies to follow that will challenge incumbent staffing software companies in this space with a more focused, simple and light weight solution. It will be worth watching how they navigate the challenges of the industry. Also, I'm dying to know if these guys left because the new owners of Concerro got their name wrong.
Medical Solutions - They may appear to be your average size agency doing business as usual. However, their use of social media and having the #1 page rank spot for healthcare staffing blog definitely makes them stand out from the crowd. The information they provide to the industry is valuable and makes them good contenders for industry innovators.

Help promote the industry by participating in this award nomination. Also, be sure and leave a comment if you think there are other companies out there deserving of a nomination.

Alright - get on it. Make your nomination for the staffing industry innovator award. And remember - it's Staffing Robot - with a space between the words. ;-)

The Jobless Rate for People Like You - Interactive Graphic - NYTimes.com

2009-11-09T08:39:59-08:00

The visualization of data is an amazing thing. It helps us to better understand complex information in a more simplified way. The New York Times has a fantastic tool allowing you to view the unemployment rate for specific demographics of people in the U.S.

Give it a look. It makes you stop and think about a few things. At least it should.

Nurses press for patient limits - Framingham, MA - The MetroWest Daily News

2009-11-06T08:28:06-08:00

Here's an article from the Metro News Daily on how Massachusetts nurses are tailing California in trying to legislate nurse to patient ratios. This has been a very controversial topic with arguments against nurse to patient ratios as well.

The proposed bill requires the state Department of Public Health to set nurse-to-patient ratio standards for each hospital department. Hospitals could later alter the ratios based on need. Many opponents of the bill cite costs of compliance with such standards.

...in order to meet the bill's ratio requirements, the cost of hiring and retaining enough nurses could cost at least $250 million in Massachusetts.

While those for the bill refer to patient care and safety, as well as better working conditions for healthcare staff.

"Hospitals can truly not continue their unsafe practices," Donna Kelly-Williams, Massachusetts Nursing Association president, said in testimony to the Joint Committee on Public Health. "There is no limit to the number of patients that I, as a nurse, can see. There is none."

Nurse saves a life in flight | Amistaff Healthcare Technology

2009-11-05T04:21:42-08:00

Sometimes you read about things in the news that seem too amazing to be true. Perhaps mostly because you typically don't have a connection to those people. However, on Tuesday, the CNO for Amistaff - a healthcare staffing technology company made big news when he helped rescue a woman suffering from a potential heart attack - in the middle of a flight from Chicago to Charlotte.

James Ostmann, Sr. RN, MBA turned the cabin of the plane into a sky-high ER. His quick action and nursing skills saved a life. I guess you know you can rest easy if you ever find yourself on a plane with Jim.

My favorite part of the story:

The chilling truth is that Ostmann made a last minute change in his itinerary to board US Air Flight 1723. Coming from the American Society Healthcare Human Resources Association conference in Chicago, Ostmann decided to take the 2:00pm flight in lieu of the 12:00pm flight allowing extra time for travel. Had Ostmann not been a passenger on the same flight, this emergency descend could have had a much different landing.

You can read the full story on the Amistaff blog.