Many medical facilities are all too familiar with the headache of psychiatric staffing shortages. The demand for trustworthy healthcare professionals continues to rise, but we are expected to face a shortage of more than 29,400 nurse practitioners by 2025. So what do you do when supply doesn’t match demand? Lean on qualified per diem nurse practitioners – healthcare professionals who fill in scheduling gaps to ensure your patients receive the care they need! A trustworthy psychiatric staffing agency like PsychStaffing can connect you with qualified psychiatric nurse practitioners who will help alleviate your scheduling challenges.
What Is a Per Diem Nurse Practitioner?
Per diem nurse practitioners are qualified healthcare professionals who fill in scheduling gaps when your regular staff is unavailable. They work on an as-needed basis and are often hired through medical staffing agencies. As healthcare facilities face continued staffing shortages, utilizing per diem employees has become a non-negotiable to ensure each unit meets staffing requirements and patients receive appropriate care.
Traits to Look For in Per Diem Nurses
When hiring help for your healthcare facility, make sure you are working with per diem nurse practitioners that you trust. Bringing in unqualified practitioners to fill in for your regular staff will only bring stress and frustration to each unit. Support your staff and ensure quality patient care by looking for per diem nurses with the following attributes:
Experience
An experienced per diem nurse practitioner will offer a depth of knowledge and developed skills that they have gained over many years of practice. They will already understand treatment protocols, the ins and outs of critical procedures, and more. Experienced psychiatric per diem nurse practitioners bring confidence and exceptional care as they seamlessly step into various healthcare settings. In other words, they have what it takes to effectively support your staff when their regular colleagues are unavailable!
Flexibility
Searching for per diem nurse practitioners with flexibility in their availability, skills, and general attitude will be helpful for your teams and essential for patient care. Look for practitioners who can be available for part-time or on-call coverage so you can quickly address unexpected staffing shortages. Additionally, per diem practitioners with knowledge of multiple specialties will be more flexible in the unit they are hired for, providing additional support to your regular staff.
Licensure and Clinical Skills
Ensure your per diem nurse practitioners are up to date with their licensure and certifications. Staying up to date on all skills and participating in additional educational training reflects an ongoing commitment to professional development. An extensive knowledge of specialized areas also allows per diem nurses to excel in whichever unit they are needed.
Empathy and Compassion
A critical component of working in psychiatric care is the ability to show both patients and staff empathy and compassion. Per diem psychiatric nurse practitioners should understand that their job extends beyond physical treatment and includes being attentive to the emotional needs of a patient. Accessing empathy will allow them to offer exceptional care to each patient. In addition, when facilities face staffing shortages, regular staff can also benefit from the calm, compassionate support of a per diem practitioner.
Problem-Solving Skills
In the fast-paced setting of medical care facilities, make sure your per diem nurse practitioners can adapt to different environments and flex their problem-solving skills. While your regular staff might be available to offer per diem staff help, you ideally want them to be fully contributing members of the team. Ensure consistency of patient care and team support by hiring per diem nurses with strong problem-solving skills.
Need help finding nurses with all the traits above? Work with a trustworthy psychiatric staffing agency to find the right match!
The Importance of Per Diem Nurse Practitioners in Your Psychiatric Facility
The struggle of staffing shortages is inevitable for healthcare facilities across the nation. If the issue remains unaddressed, it will lead to even greater staffing shortages as many healthcare professionals leave the field due to feeling overworked and under-supported. As the chain reaction continues this eventually leads to decreased quality in patient care and more.
The good news? Per diem nurse practitioners can prevent staffing shortages and the implications these shortages bring for both staff culture and patient care.
Staff Culture and Morale
Your regular team will be the first ones to bear the brunt of staffing shortages. Support your dedicated employees by removing the stress, exhaustion, and uncertainty of being understaffed by utilizing per diem nurse practitioners. Knowing a qualified professional is filling in for an absence brings reassurance to your team, helping them feel supported by their management and ready to provide exceptional care.
Patient Care
Healthcare teams work hard to prevent patients from being aware of staffing shortages – but eventually, patients will begin noticing the issue. Whether it’s from a lack of appropriate attention or a palpable sense of stress among your staff – patients can tell when you are short staffed. Counting on licensed and certified temporary nurse practitioners to fill in the gaps will allow patients to receive the care they deserve while protecting the reputation of your facility.
Find Your Next Per Diem Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner With PsychStaffing
Ready to support your psychiatric facility and its valued patients with per diem nurse practitioners? Contact PsychStaffing today to get started!
Since 1993, PsychStaffing has functioned as an advocate for both medical providers and organizations in need of psychiatry. We are a psychiatric staffing agency that helps behavioral health facilities fill important gaps in their psychiatry coverage and ensure patient-first care with affordable and well-vetted staffing solutions. We can’t wait to connect with you!
