For healthcare organizations, an empty shift costs plenty. While some staffing decisions are driven by the bottom line, in reality, the risks and costs to your organization take much more from your facility than you save. Here, we look at the hidden cost to your healthcare organization from coverage gaps, what may cause these empty shifts, and what you can do to resolve the issue.
How Coverage Gaps Are Hurting You
Facilities that habitually mismanage their shift scheduling may simply underestimate the need for nursing staff. Unfortunately, the consequences of empty shifts can be felt far beyond the budget and for a long time to come. Understaffing is one of the major reasons some facilities experience a high rate of turnover. The understaffed organization also risks the quality of patient care, which in turn creates an entirely new set of problems.
The financial impact of routine empty shifts is felt beyond the staff salaries. In fact, poor staffing decisions can cost healthcare organizations, in some instances, well over $60,000 per vacancy when you factor in recruiting, training, and onboarding, mandatory overtime, the legal risks, and risks to patient care.
Burnout among your nursing staff poses another cost to your organization. Chronic understaffing increases a facility’s turnover rate by more than 60%. Nurses read the culture pretty quickly after joining your team, and look for the nearest exit.
Chronic understaffing creates a costly cycle of empty shifts and mandatory shift coverage, which leads to burnout as more nurses become frustrated with covering empty shifts. Nursing staff begin feeling exhausted physically and emotionally, and have no sense of personal satisfaction or accomplishment in their career.
Additionally, and most importantly, patient care suffers when coverage gaps aren’t addressed. The quality of patient care strictly influences your competitive edge within your community. Many healthcare organizations have succumbed to a poor reputation and all that comes with it.
Coverage Gaps and Hidden Costs
As you can see, gaps in your staff coverage have quite a snowball effect. But there’s more to this crisis. Here’s a deeper look into the hidden costs that come from coverage gaps.
Recruitment: Recruiting to fill open staff positions takes time and expense. From posting your open positions on job boards, etc., to performing the necessary vetting and interviewing the candidates, your facility must invest a lot. If you experience higher turnover due to the demands that empty shifts place on your nurses, the costs will be much higher.
Onboarding and Training: In understaffed facilities its not uncommon for nurses to leave within the first few months of hire. This happens to roughly 30% of newly hired nurses. That means your investment in training and onboarding is wasted.
Mandatory Overtime: As your staffing ratios drop, the need for mandatory overtime increases. That means premium pay, which can increase your overtime pay by nearly 50% annually.
Penalties for Non-Compliance: Chronic coverage gaps will bring penalties from your state health department. These can become costly and even impact federal reimbursement programs.
Quality Patient Care Suffers: Plainly put, poor staffing means patients suffer. Failing to provide adequate nurse-to-patient ratios may lead to medical errors, lawsuits, legal fees, and a hike in your medical malpractice premiums. That’s the worst case, but empty shifts also lead to a drop in patient satisfaction scores, reducing your facility’s ratings and potentially affecting your Medicare payments.
Resolving the Empty Shift Problem
Partnering with BOS Medical Staffing helps healthcare organizations resolve their empty shift problems. We provide fast access to the nurses you need. Our part-time, full-time, and temporary nursing staff are pre-vetted, which saves your organization time and money. Skip the hassles, risks, and hidden costs of coverage gaps and reach out to BOS Medical Staffing today.
