Nursing staffing problems are being felt across the world at the moment. This is something that has only been felt even more during the pandemic crisis. In this blog post, we are going to take a look at some of the different approaches that can be used in order to deal with nursing staffing problems effectively.
- Maintain a positive attitude - The first thing that you need to do is maintain a positive attitude. Attitude is everything. If you go into a situation that is challenging with a can-do and positive attitude, you are going to be able to achieve more. Nevertheless, if you go into a situation with a negative approach, you can bring down the performance and morale of the entire team. An important first step to take is having a positive talk with yourself. After you have told yourself that you can survive and thrive in this situation, you will then be able to relay this message to the team. Look at how you can reframe the shortage of staff members in order to create a sense of camaraderie amongst the team.
- Inform and involve nursing administration - It is also a good idea to speak to the nurse manager if you have noticed that staffing is currently at a level that is not adequate. Your manager may be able to call in staff, employ staff from an agency, reallocate staff, or offer incentives or overtime pay. Not only this but the nurse manager may be able to fend off any special requests that are time-consuming.
- Communicate nicely and effectively - You need to make sure you communicate in a clear manner so that everyone is aware of the plan that is in place for surviving staff shortage. Safeguard the dignity and feelings of the entire team. Think about your communication style. Do you ever speak in a manner that is condescending or demeaning when you feel harried? It is important to be honest here about your communication style and make sure that you support one and other so that the experience is a lot smoother.
- Ensure you have the best equipment in place - Making sure you have the best equipment in place, such as video EEG monitoring, can help nurses to do their jobs more effectively. Technology plays a critical role in the healthcare sector today, and so this is something you should definitely consider highly when it comes to making certain that you’re able to work as efficiently as possible.
- Recruit additional talent - Needless to say, the most obvious way for you to deal with a nurse shortage at your healthcare organization is to recruit additional talent. This is not going to be possible in all situations, but if the coronavirus has taught us anything, it is that we live in a world today whereby people want to help one and other and they want to make a difference. This is why it is important to try and reach out and see if there is any time available during the most difficult times.
- Be a team player - In addition to the benefits that have been mentioned so far, it is important to be a team player. If you finish your work before someone else does, it is important to pitch in and help others. Teamwork enhances patient safety, as well as making challenging situations more tolerable and creating bonds between co-workers.
- Organize your workload - It is important to organize your workload. After you have received a report, you need to figure out the needs of your patients. Gather the supplies and equipment that is needed before you enter into a patient’s room. Make sure support personnel are given a list of any items that are missing so that they can get them straight away.
- Prioritize your assignments - When you have staffing problems at your healthcare organization, it is important to make certain that your assignments are prioritized. You need to assess your assignments and you need nursing activities to be categorized as low, medium, or high priority. Begin with the activities that are high-priority. These activities include interventions and critical assessments. After this, you need to make sure that duties that are classed as medium-priority come next, for example, teaching patients. There are then activities that are low-priority. These are the sort of activities that can be delegated to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAPs), volunteers, or family members.
- You always need to make sure that staffing levels are safe - It is important to stress that staffing levels always need to be safe. While you can re-organize tasks and do a number of different things in order to deal with a staffing shortage. It is important to recognize that, at the end of the day, you are dealing with people’s health, and therefore, you cannot afford to cut corners. If staffing levels have reached the point whereby it is unsafe, the only solution is to ensure you hire experienced individuals who can help to get the staffing levels to a rate that is acceptable.
- Talk with the rest of the team - Last but not least, it is critical to make sure that you speak with the rest of your team. Communication is imperative. You are not going to be able to know how to deal with nursing staffing problems most effectively if you do not communicate with one and other and understand everyone’s needs. Who is managing their workload effectively? What do different team members need? What is going to help people to work efficiently and get tasks carried out to a safe level? When you communicate and talk to one and other, this is how the best results are achieved.
To conclude, there is no denying that nursing staffing problems have become a real issue in recent times. Nevertheless, if you follow the advice that has been provided above, we hope that this will assist you in terms of dealing with the shortage more effectively.
