Nurse Staffing Reimagined: New Strategies and Approaches for the Future of Nursing

July 17, 2023

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• New Nursing Strategies to Consider 

• What Does the Future of Nursing Look Like?

• The Bottom Line 

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the nursing profession and healthcare system in 2023 need an extensive redesign and transformation. There is an overall need to transform nursing for improved care, access, and outcomes for healthcare professionals and patients. By reimagining nursing, nurses everywhere are driving change at their facilities and effectively using their skills to improve their facilities. Healthcare professionals must invest in opportunities that will transform and change the future of their nursing programs. By creating a diverse and dynamic workforce, it will only bring the nursing profession to the future. This article introduces new strategies and approaches healthcare executives can explore to reimagine the future of nursing.

New Nursing Strategies to Consider

Nursing is a noble profession that is vital in healthcare systems worldwide. Nursing has undergone significant transformations in recent years driven by evolving healthcare needs and technological advancements. This blog post explores four critical aspects of new nursing tactics. These include blended nursing, flexible staffing, return to practice, and supporting nurse leaders. These innovative approaches reshape the nursing landscape, enhance patient care, and empower nurses to thrive.

Blended Nursing:

Blended nursing is a modern approach that combines in-person care with technology-enabled remote interventions. Blended nursing finds the perfect balance of traditional nursing practices but also does not shy away from new advancements made in the profession. By integrating telehealth and virtual care solutions, nurses can reach patients in remote areas, monitor chronic conditions, and provide timely interventions. Blended nursing improves access to care, enhances efficiency, reduces healthcare costs, and optimizes resources. It allows nurses to leverage their skills beyond traditional hospital settings, promoting community engagement and preventive care.

Flexible Staffing:

Flexibility in staffing is crucial to meet the dynamic demands of healthcare. By adopting flexible staffing models, healthcare organizations can ensure optimal nurse-to-patient ratios and adjust staffing levels based on fluctuating patient needs. This approach promotes work-life balance for nurses, mitigates burnout, and improves job satisfaction. Flexible staffing enables nurses to explore various practice settings, such as clinics, schools, and home care, expanding their professional horizons and fostering a diverse nursing workforce. Flexible staffing allows current nursing staff to choose when, how, and where they deliver patient care.

Return to Practice:

Return-to-practice programs are designed to support qualified nurses who have taken a career break and wish to reenter the profession. These programs offer refresher courses, clinical placements, and mentorship opportunities to update nurses' knowledge and skills. By facilitating a smooth transition back into nursing, return-to-practice initiatives address the shortage of experienced nurses and harness the expertise of those temporarily leaving the field. This inclusive approach enriches the nursing workforce and strengthens the overall healthcare system. The benefit for hospitals to indulge in return-to-practice programs is that they will have tenured nurses at their facility available to train recent nurse graduates entering the profession.

Supporting Nurse Leaders:

Nurses drive innovation, shape healthcare policies, and advocate for patient-centered care. Supporting and nurturing nurse leaders is essential to create a resilient and sustainable nursing workforce. Organizations can offer leadership development programs, mentorship opportunities, and dedicated resources to empower nurses in leadership roles. By investing in their professional growth, nurse leaders can inspire their teams, foster a culture of continuous improvement, and drive positive change in healthcare delivery. Investing in current nurse staff to move up as leaders at their facility will also assist in high nurse retention, as many will feel they are advancing their careers at your facility.

International Nurses:

By reimagining nursing, healthcare executives can look outside the scope of normal staffing strategies. This includes researching and beginning the use of international nurses. Using an international staffing agency such as Avant Healthcare Professionals will allow patients to access more experienced healthcare professionals. International nurses can be an innovative long-term solution and increase nurse retention. Most nurses stay at their facility for three years, typically converting to full-time, permanent nurses. International nurses are continuously added to current staffing systems to assist in the lack of tenured and new nursing staff joining facilities nationwide.

What Does the Future of Nursing Look Like?

As the nursing shortage continues to leave many healthcare executives uncertain of what the future looks like at their facilities, these approaches may offer some guidance for them. Investing in these new practices and approaches not only helps in terms of resource management and patient care, but they offer other advantages so healthcare executives can feel more secure about the future of the staff at their facilities. Below are more benefits to reimagining nursing and the future of these new strategies and approaches to nurse staffing.

Diverse Perspectives, Enhanced Care

Staffing international nurses, much like those from Avant Healthcare Professionals, brings a wealth of diversity to the nursing workforce. These nurses come from various backgrounds, cultures, and healthcare systems, enriching the patient care experience. Their unique perspectives and experiences contribute to a more comprehensive and holistic approach to patient care. The presence of international nurses helps address cultural competency and language barriers, ensuring effective communication and personalized care for patients from diverse backgrounds.

Addressing the Nursing Shortage

The nursing shortage continues to be a pressing challenge in healthcare, requiring healthcare executives to find innovative solutions to address staffing needs. This includes exploring alternative sources of nursing talent, such as international nurse recruitment programs or partnerships with nursing schools. Healthcare executives can also consider investing in strategies to retain existing nursing staff, such as improving work-life balance, providing competitive compensation and benefits, and creating a positive work environment. By actively addressing the nursing shortage, healthcare executives can ensure adequate staffing levels to meet the increasing demand for healthcare services.

Promoting Professional Growth and Development

To overcome staffing challenges, healthcare executives should promote nurses' professional growth and development within their organizations. This can be done by supporting the future of nurse leaders discussed earlier. This can also be achieved through robust education and training programs, mentorship opportunities, and career advancement pathways. By investing in their nurses' professional development, healthcare executives empower them to take on new roles and responsibilities, enhance their clinical skills, and expand their knowledge base. Promoting professional growth and development helps retain talented nurses and ensures a highly skilled and motivated workforce that can deliver high-quality care to patients.

Driving Innovation and Collaboration

Nurse leaders must foster a culture of innovation and collaboration within their organizations to address nurse staffing needs effectively. Encouraging nurses to share their ideas, insights, and best practices can lead to the discovery of innovative solutions to staffing challenges. Executives can create platforms for collaboration, such as interdisciplinary team meetings, quality improvement projects, and research initiatives. They can also explore flexible staffing models at their facilities and discuss what that would look like with their current staff. By fostering a collaborative environment, healthcare executives enable nurses to contribute their expertise, drive positive change, and find creative ways to optimize staffing resources.

The Bottom Line

By reimagining nursing, nursing leaders nationwide can explore new avenues to aid their staffing approaches and the future of care at their facilities. These approaches will result in innovative and evolving advances made in the profession. All the approaches shared will contribute to a resilient healthcare system. Nurse leaders are revolutionizing the healthcare profession by investing in these new practices and approaches, such as flexible staffing models, hiring international nurses, return-to-practice programs, and more. As we navigate the changing healthcare landscape, the role of healthcare executives in finding new ways to aid their nursing staff is critical, and these approaches can help.