The current staffing model for hospitals is under a number of strains. More people are being admitted to hospitals each year. The availability if RNs is being stretched as the talent pool shrinks, more nurses enter retirement, and advances in healthcare require more advanced skills. Both patient and RN satisfaction are diminishing and hospital budgets are strained to meet the demands of staffing while providing quality care. While many different staffing models have been tried over the years to emphasize specific problem areas, the next generation staffing model for hospitals is all-inclusive, and designed to address and correct immediate issues with a smooth transition that can benefit patients, staff, budget concerns and more well into the future.
Disruptive Innovation
Hospitals have tried a number of different solutions to ease the pressures of the current staffing model. Everything from acuity-based staffing to team nursing, hourly rounding, pre-shift huddles, and more have been tried and discarded because the methods either fall apart due to other strains within the model, or the gains did not outweigh the costs of implementation and execution. While a few of these methods were attempted just to try something new, many did not work because the human sources, budget, and technology were not in place to fully support a sustainable and cost-effective overhaul of the hospital staffing model. Disruptive innovation needs to take place, no one will argue that, but previous attempts were more disruptive than innovative, and with few lasting benefits. Fortunately, with advances in integrated technology and teleprofessionals, the healthcare industry is poised for the next generation staffing model for hospitals.
Technology and People Working Together
The next generation staffing model for hospitals brings together existing nursing staff with virtual nurses and centralized patient monitoring stations. The virtual nurse assists with admissions and discharges, monitoring high-risk patients via beds which are fitted with speakers and cameras, offering quality surveillance in real-time, and supporting new RNs. The RN staff conducts physical assessments during patient admissions, provides direct patient care, manages the discharge process, and provides instructions to patients and families. Together, the virtual nurse and RN staff can document care and educate patients, provide better coverage and faster response rates, and work with an interprofessional care team to deliver better quality of care to patients. The next generation staffing model for hospitals is sustainable, lowers expenses, and improves operational functions across the board.
BANYAN is a leader in transforming healthcare with integrated technology and teleprofessionals to ease budget and staffing pressures to create new staffing models and smooth transitions to improve satisfaction for hospitals, nurses, and patients alike.
