Data and analytics may provide the secret code for healthcare organizations to recruit and retain nurses. By leveraging this information to your advantage, your healthcare organization can save time, and money, and improve your return on investment by keeping qualified nurses on your staff. Those predictive analytics are gold for solving your hiring and retention woes.
First, What Are Data and Analytics?
Through the use of statistical software healthcare organizations can measure behavior and trends among the workforce. This method is used by countless companies when planning and strategizing for their current and future needs. Through this kind of increased knowledge, healthcare organizations can predict their staff needs, find what draws potential new hires to their facility, and spot those trends that help prioritize patient care by recruiting the right kind of nurses.
Here are 5 ways data and analytics can improve your nursing recruitment (and retention) process.
1. Advance Nurses’ Skills Through Training
If you want to increase retention, stop replacing nurses when more qualified staff is needed. Instead, invest in your staff, and not only will you engage your nurses in a very positive way, but that engagement will also make your nurses feel more confident, respected, and valued.
That leads to a positive workplace culture, staff retention, and improved patient care.
You can use analytics and data to analyze skills and provide training in any area that appears lacking. For instance, you may see a trend in needing more specialized nurses on a night shift when some patients require attention your unspecialized staff isn’t prepared to provide. Instead of replacing your current staff the more cost-effective method is to simply provide the training necessary.
2. Reduction in Unnecessary Costs
The use of data and analytics provides real insight into how you are allocating your budget. Many healthcare organizations find such things as onboarding, turnover, overtime, and short staffing end up straining their budget. Instead, use these workplace analytics and data to identify a pattern and take steps to alleviate unnecessary costs. This may be the right time to look into partnering with BOS Medical Staffing.
3. Gap Analysis Helps You Prepare for The Future
It’s no secret that nurses are in short supply and the demand for qualified nurses is only going to increase. Get a leg up on your competition through data and analytics that predict trends in increased patient demand. Trying to meet the demand in real-time often results in overtime and short staffing situations. Neither of those is good for your facility or your patients.
Analytics estimates your future need for staff based on data such as current retirement rates, termination and resignation averages, and heightened census. Competition and nursing school graduation rates are just a few of the additional metrics used to measure potential gaps in your future staffing.
4. Increase Staff Engagement
Staff engagement data and analytics provide insight into your nursing staff’s commitment to your organization’s facility and their patients’ outcomes. There are many ways improved engagement benefits your healthcare organization. Especially when it comes to your return on investment and staff retention. These analytics also provide performance metrics, job satisfaction rates, and attributes of your stellar nurses. Use this information to identify how you can support your nurses.
5. Increase Nursing Staff Retention
Finally, let’s look at how you can use data and analytics to retain your top nursing staff. Healthcare workplace analytics takes data and analyzes the metrics to predict those employees who are likely to move on in short order. The analytics recognizes behaviors and characteristics most often associated with high turnover rates. Healthcare organizations may use this information to categorize nursing staff most likely to turnover, thus saving time and money.
The Tool You Need for Your Nursing Recruitment Process
The use of data and analytics is a powerful tool in your nursing recruitment process, staff retention, and the creation of a positive workplace culture. For more on how you can improve your nursing recruitment process please reach out to BOS Medical Staffing today.
