The COVID-19 pandemic took a serious toll on healthcare workers, leading many to abandon the industry entirely. But even with the worst of the crisis behind us, healthcare turnover rates have remained alarmingly high.
If your facility continually has to hire nurse practitioners, doctors and other healthcare professionals to keep up with the so-called “Great Resignation,” PsychStaffing can help.
For over 30 years, we’ve been one of Ohio’s leading healthcare staffing agencies. We’re committed to recruiting psychiatrists and nurse practitioners with top-notch credentials and matching them to facilities like yours for long- and short-term work.
Our decades of experience partnering with both healthcare professionals and behavioral health facilities has given us insight into the many reasons practitioners might leave a job – as well as what can make them stay put for the long haul.
The best way to combat high turnover rates is to create a supportive and nurturing environment that allows medical staff to grow while delivering the best patient care.
Here are six ways you can help your staff feel valued, respected and loyal – ultimately leading to lower turnover, better patient outcomes and a healthier bottom line for your facility.
1. Encourage Employee Engagement
A strong sense of teamwork and collaboration leads to greater work satisfaction. This is especially true among behavioral healthcare workers because they often rely on each other to deliver the best care possible to patients with complex clinical needs. Strategies for increasing employee engagement include:
- Recognizing performance that goes above and beyond
- Praising collaborative initiatives
- Asking your staff what they need through periodic surveys
- Delivering those surveys with tangible and timely responses
- Making sure management communicates changes clearly and effectively
2. Offer Competitive Pay & Benefits
It may seem obvious, but low pay is a leading cause of high healthcare turnover rates. Many behavioral health workers cite substandard compensation as the motivating factor behind exiting the industry altogether. And we’re not just talking about wages – benefits like matching 401K contributions, paid time off and flexible scheduling can add up to greater job satisfaction and a more loyal staff.
3. Provide a Clear Path for Career Development
When an employee feels like there’s no room for growth in their position, they’re much more likely to look for other opportunities. On the other hand, behavioral facilities that encourage professional development among their staff enjoy higher retention rates of happier employees. Ways you can provide clear pathways for your medical staff to advance their careers include:
- Providing reimbursement for college courses or additional certifications
- Filling management positions from within your current workforce
- Being fully transparent about your organizational structure
4. Offer Continual Training & Learning Opportunities
The best patient outcomes spring from a healthcare team that seeks opportunities for continuous learning and improving their skill sets. From the latest diagnostic instruments to the rise in telemental healthcare options, there’s always something to learn in the healthcare industry. Show your staff you value their forward thinking by:
- Providing online technical training programs
- Hosting workshops that cover industry advancements or challenges
- Allowing time off to complete continuing education requirements
5. Standardize Recurring Tasks & Responsibilities
Most behavioral healthcare specialists have little interest in sitting at a desk filling out reports all day. Of course, detailed notes and treatment records are crucial to maintaining effective, consistent patient care – but you didn’t hire nurse practitioners to act as file clerks. A typical complaint we hear when recruiting psychiatrists and other healthcare professionals is that an endless torrent of mundane tasks often means they don’t get to spend as much time as they’d like with patients.
Use medical software and paperless filing systems to standardize recurring tasks. The increased efficiency will lower everyone’s stress levels and free your professional staff to find more fulfillment in their everyday routine.
6. Avoid Employee Burnout
Employee burnout – an overwhelming sense of fatigue, stress and exhaustion – often stems from inflexible schedules that are fueled by staffing shortages. And it can quickly lead to mass exits from the workplace. To avoid burnout among your behavioral healthcare team, you can:
- Make sure you have enough staff to cover days off and vacation time
- Allow flexible schedules, like rolling weekend duties
- Implement work-from-home options for virtual appointments or record-keeping days
How PsychStaffing Can Help Your Facility
As high healthcare turnover rates persist, medical staffing agencies like PsychStaffing have become increasingly valuable to behavioral health facilities across the country. We can help you safeguard your best and brightest employees – and ensure your patients are getting the best care possible – by vetting and recruiting board-certified psychiatrists, nurse practitioners and other professionals to fill your staffing needs.
Check out our FAQs to get an idea of how our services work. Then connect with us to get started! We’ll help you focus on superior patient care with coverage that fits your needs and high-quality placements backed by verified credentials.