Delivering excellent healthcare services to patients is the driving force behind the operation of many medical institutions today. Having a professional and experienced staff on hand all year round is the cornerstone to meeting this standard of quality service.
For a number of reasons, medical institutions may become understaffed and undermanned which can potentially lead to a drop in quality of service. This is where tailored healthcare staffing comes to the rescue. Employing the services of a reputable healthcare staffing agency to help reinforce your permanent workforce goes a long way in maintaining premium service which can prevent a string of medical liability and negligence claims.
Tailored healthcare staffing provides a flexible means of filling temporary healthcare employee which prevents a drop in efficiency due to employee absence. A healthcare staffing agency keeps a network of highly experienced healthcare professionals ready to fill the pressing needs of a shorthanded institution. The flexibility this healthcare staffing provides has made it a preferred route of employment for many medical facilities.
Pros of Tailored Healthcare Staffing
The advent of tailored healthcare staffing has brought a marked improvement in the provision of premium healthcare services to patients across the country. The constant supply of expert and experienced therapists brings with it quite a few advantages and benefits.
Consider the following advantages of tailored healthcare staffing:
1. Promotes An Efficient Workforce
Tailored healthcare staffing eases the significant workload your permanent staff may have had to bear alone. You can employ this services during traditionally busy periods of the year or special circumstances. This institution has provided an avenue for the improved division of labor, shorter shifts and 24/7 staffing with well-rested professionals. Tailored healthcare staffing prevents employee burnouts due to increase workload. The increase in staffing greatly reduces negligent acts or mistakes in healthcare administration as there are more hands on deck to provide monitoring and general services.
Tailored healthcare staffing allows your hardworking staff take their leaves of absence without leading to a drop in quality. This gives your permanent staff a chance to refresh themselves which allows them to come back to work with greater focus, increased morale, and work ethic. The hassle and stress that healthcare professionals experience daily can eventually lead to a mental or psychological breakdown. Easing their workload by providing a support system with temporary staffing protects your permanent staff from a breakdown and your organization from losing key personnel.
2. Assessment of Potential Hires
By utilizing tailored healthcare staffing you are able to fully analyze and examine the work ethic, professionalism, and all-around demeanor of a practitioner you intend on hiring on a permanent basis. You can prepare a scouting report on a temporary staff during the course of their service in your organization and they can decide on whether or not they fit the requirements you need for a permanent staff. The professionals that are provided by healthcare staffing agencies are some of the most diverse and experienced healthcare practitioners nationwide which you get to observe on a pseudo-trial basis.
This process saves you a lot of time that would have been wasted in the hiring process. Tailored healthcare staffing helps eliminate the need for a number of steps in the recruitment process. Employee screening is conducted by the healthcare staffing agency that you employ. A thorough background check is conducted before they are recruited by such an agency in order to maintain their reputation. Since the tailored staff is sourced from different and diverse backgrounds your organization has a diverse pool to employ professionals from.
3. Savings on Financial Costs
Tailored healthcare staffing will save your organizations a significant amount of money in the long run. Your organization usually has no financial obligations and commitments to the temporary staff provided and the healthcare agency usually handles payments and other employee’s benefits. You are able to retain their services while saving the huge financial outlay you would have committed to hiring a permanent staff. The cost of hiring a permanent staff includes insurance benefits, paid leaves, healthcare, and host of other employee benefits. Usually, the healthcare staffing agency is in charge of providing the entirety or majority of these benefits for your tailored staff allowing you to make significant financial savings.
You also save money on overtime pay and benefits. Rather than extend the working hours of your permanent staff you can assign temporary staffers to cover these shifts that would have incurred mounting overtime pay. The overall cost of overtime payments and benefits can then be redirected to more important health care or operational needs. There is usually no severance package or allowance involved in the termination of tailored staff employment. Tailored healthcare staffing provides highly needed cost-cutting in the healthcare industry.
4. Prevents Staffing Vacuums
Tailored healthcare staffing helps organizations prepare for scheduled or unscheduled employee absences. Leaves of absences, maternity and paternity leaves, accidents and annual leave of absence are just some of the few reasons why permanent staff might be temporarily unavailable for work. In these instances, organizations can hire temporary staff to cover for these absences. You can schedule replacement staff to coincide with routine leaves of absence for key personnel preventing a lapse in essential services. With the services of a reputable staffing agency, you can be assured of year-round staffing with some of the most experienced and expert healthcare professionals on the market.
5. Experience and Expertise
Healthcare staffing agencies put a lot of effort and time into retaining the services of some of the most qualified practitioners from around the world. This is due to the need to maintain their pristine reputation in the healthcare industry. The qualification process is usually stringent, ensuring only the most qualified personnel are retained for future tailored healthcare staffing purposes. The healthcare practitioners are also constantly improving their knowledge and providing high-quality service in the bid to get constant employment opportunities.
Organizations who hire such agencies can be assured, more often than not, of highly professional, experienced service from such temporary staffers. Your organization experiences an improvement in overall workplace atmosphere and patient satisfaction due to the expertise and professionalism of these workers.
6. Vast Network of Professionals
Your organization can tap into a vast network of highly trained and experienced professionals all year round. Whatever specifications or unique requirements you have in terms of staffing can be met with haste. Organizations looking to diversify their workforce are able to successfully do this with the professionals cutting across all genders, sex, locations, ace, and ethnicity.
7. Streamlined Recruitment
Using a tailored healthcare staffing agency helps your organization streamline and expedite its hiring process. All you need to do is specify what requirements, qualifications and standards you expect from your employees, and the agency goes to work screening potential candidates on your behalf.
If you are a specialized healthcare institution you are able to reduce the employee orientation period, as the staffing agency helps you select only professionals who have extensive expertise and experience in your particular field. Your organization is able to function smoothly and efficiently without needing to reduce productivity and spend valuable time on orientation and dealing with employees learning in the job.
Disadvantages of Tailored Healthcare Staffing
While the advantages of employing tailored healthcare staffing are immeasurable there are still certain potential disadvantages and demerits to consider before committing to it. Consider the following points before employing tailored healthcare staff:
1. Poor Workplace Morale
Relying on temporary staffing makes it hard or impossible to develop a stable workplace culture. Both permanent and temporary staff may fail to commit themselves completely to their duties for differing reasons. Permanent staff may feel replaceable and undervalued with the employment of temporary staff. The constant threat of replacement can lead to a significant drop in quality of service and productivity which is not something that is desired in a healthcare environment. Temporary staff may also fail to give full effort since they consider themselves medical sojourners who have limited time to a particular organization. Rather than commit fully they may give above average commitment and passion at work. A combination of these factors can lead to a marked drop in work ethic and morale in your healthcare facility.
Ensure your permanent staff is constantly reminded of their value to the institution and the importance of the temporary staff. Let them understand that such recruitment is mutually beneficial to both the organization and the permanent staff. On the other end of the spectrum, your organization should only retain the services of reputable healthcare staffing agencies. These agencies provide professional and passionate staff committed and comfortable in the workplace despite the temporary nature.
2. Long-term Commitment
Some healthcare staffing agencies may require a long-term contract before they provide their services to your institution. This may be untenable if your staffing needs are temporary and only short-term. This long-term financial commitment can override whatever savings the use of tailored healthcare staffing originally brings. Find a healthcare staffing agency that is flexible enough to cater to your peculiar needs.
3. Legal Issues
The use of temporary healthcare staff can leave you liable to some legal claims. Organizations who retain the same temporary healthcare staff for an extended period of time as a means to avoid incurring employer obligations can be liable to civil lawsuits from such staffers. Understand your obligations as an employer and the healthcare staffing agencies duties and responsibilities before entering into such agreements.
4. Risk of Mediocre Candidates
Depending on the healthcare staffing agency you conduct business with, your organization may be staffed with average or below average practitioners. Dealing with profit-oriented agencies who employ a hasty screening and employee interviewing process can ultimately ruin your hospital’s or medical facility’s reputation with poorly trained staff. It is paramount to employ the services of a reputable and industry proven healthcare staffing agency to prevent the hiring of underqualified and unprofessional healthcare practitioners. The overall quality of a hospital is predicated in part on the quality of the staff on hand, ensure you only have the best.
5. Learning Curve
Due to the time restraint and temporary nature of their employ, it can be difficult for these professionals to get acquainted with certain organizational procedures. These can lead to a lot of operational and medical discrepancies in your organization. It is important to consider your options carefully and insist on individuals who have prior experience working in a similar environment. Since the healthcare service is a sensitive business there may be little time for a learning curve or a training period.
Conclusion
The need for quality staffing pervades all industries and is even more pronounced in the healthcare industry. Hospitals and other medical facilities must ensure they are continually served by consummate professionals. The need for experience and expertise cannot be overemphasized when dealing with patient satisfaction and providing premium healthcare services. There is a vast network of trained, highly qualified, experienced professionally tailor-made to cater to your organizations or individual needs.
Essential Healthcare Staffing provides tailored staffing for both healthcare organizations and individuals who need priority services. Essential Healthcare Staffing maintains an extensive network of highly qualified therapists and healthcare practitioners with diverse backgrounds. At a highly subsidized cost your organization gets access to some of the most highly qualified medical professionals in the labor market.
As the leading healthcare staffing agency in the country, Essential Healthcare Staffing subjects candidates to rigorous screening exercises and background checks to maintain our industry-wide reputation. Our candidates are highly professional and relatable, injecting a dose of healthy workplace morale and work ethic into your organization. We are capable of meeting any requirements or standards your organization needs to ensure the highest quality standard of healthcare. For a flexible and unparalleled staffing service, Essential Healthcare is your one-stop source for talented professionals.