How to Combat Staffing Shortages in Skilled Nursing Facilities

The skilled nursing industry is facing a major staffing crisis. With an aging population and growing demand for professional nursing services, the need for qualified staff is at an all-time high. Unfortunately, the supply of skilled workers is not keeping up with the demand. As a result, healthcare organizations struggle to fill open positions, leading to increased workloads for existing staff and decreased quality of care for residents.

What is a staffing shortage, and what causes it?

The definition of a skilled nursing staffing shortage is when there are not enough nurses and/or CNAs to meet the demands of the patients in a facility. This can be caused by many factors, including a tight labor market, increased patient acuity, and a lack of qualified nurses and CNAs.

When there is a skilled nursing staffing shortage, it can increase patient falls, medication errors, and length of stay. It can also cause nurses and CNAs to experience burnout and compassion fatigue.

How do these shortages impact patients and families?

Skilled nursing shortages impact patients and families in many ways, including the following examples:

• Patients may have to wait longer for care or may not be able to get the care they need.
• Families may have to take on more caregiving responsibilities.
• The quality of care may suffer due to staff shortages.
• Costs may increase as hospitals and other providers try to make up for the shortfall in skilled nurses and CNAs.
• Value-based care may suffer as providers are unable to meet quality metrics.

How can a staffing shortage be prevented?

The staffing shortage in skilled nursing is a complex problem with no easy solutions. However, there are steps that facilities can take to alleviate the problem.

One way to combat the staffing shortage is to offer competitive salaries and benefits.

Another way to attract and retain staff is to create a positive work environment where employees feel valued and appreciated. For example, some healthcare facilities offer flexible work schedules, tuition reimbursement, and mentorship programs.

Finally, facilities can provide ongoing caregiver education and training: to help employees improve their skills and knowledge. By investing in on-the-job training and on-demand employee learning, nursing homes can help ensure that staff members are up-to-date on the latest techniques and best practices for compliance and value-based care.

Providing educational opportunities for caregivers can help attract and retain high-quality staff and improve the quality of care for residents. Additionally, caregiver education and ongoing training can also help employees feel more confident in their abilities, improving job satisfaction and decreasing turnover.

In a tight labor market, skilled nursing facilities that offer competitive benefits and development opportunities are more likely to attract and retain high-quality employees. By investing in caregiver education, training and development, nursing homes can help ensure that they have the qualified staff members needed to provide better care for residents.

How showd.me can help

Nursing staff shortages are at an all-time high. And, with a lack of skilled staff, it isn’t easy to meet compliance standards.

showd.me is the perfect solution to this problem. We offer an on-demand training platform that is engaging and easy to use. This allows agencies and skilled nursing facilities to get more new hires through the process quicker.

With our platform, you can expect an 85% post-application engagement rate and over a 65% application completion rate. Plus, new hires are extremely satisfied with their experience using our service – finding it engaging and straightforward.

With showd.me, you can increase training effectiveness and create an engaging and interactive learning experience for your staff that will help them retain information and improve patient care. Our platform makes it easy for you to develop and deliver new programs tailored to your specific audience.

Ready to improve compliance training in your organization? Request a demo.