In today’s gig economy, the growing availability of flex work has enabled more workers to prioritize work-life harmony and eschew the traditional 9-to-5, 40-hour work week. In short, people want more control of their work schedules and, in turn, more control over their personal lives.
Healthcare workers are no different, so that’s why staffing solutions such as Matchwell, now a part of the Medical Solutions healthcare talent ecosystem, are offering an agency alternative that matches clinicians with top healthcare facilities looking for local and per diem talent.
According to the Medical Solutions 2023 Voices of Care Survey, 28 percent of nurses who were planning to leave the profession indicated they would reconsider if they were offered more schedule flexibility. Another 14 percent suggested facilities would be more attractive workplaces if they provided greater flexibility.
“It just gives you a little bit more freedom so that you can stay in the workforce, but you can step away to prioritize other things while you're in different phases of your life,” said Bree Becker, a Nurse Practitioner who still practices on a PRN basis, Matchwell Director of Clinical Operations, and Medical Solutions Manager of Clinical Excellence. “It also can help you get exposure to and experience with different specialties and organizations that you wouldn’t be getting if you were full-time at a single facility.”
Flex to Strengthen Facilities
When facilities do not offer sufficient flex work options, they can unintentionally contribute to employee stress and burnout and lose access to skilled clinicians who are unable to commit to full-time, permanent positions. For example, parents with young children, semi-retired clinicians, part-time students, and even full-time clinicians looking for extra shifts are all valuable members of the flex workforce. By not accommodating these individuals, facilities are limiting their ability to supplement their staff with effective flex workers and, ultimately, provide better care.
“When you're limiting yourself to a set number of hours, you're potentially losing skilled clinicians,” Becker said. "Especially when you think about the demographics of nursing, it’s so predominantly female, and most of those females are moms. ”
“When I first had my son, I worked flex hours. It was a way for me to keep my foot in the door without needing to work 30-36 hours a week. I could work 12 hours if I wanted to, and then if there was a week where we needed extra money, maybe we were getting ready for Christmas, I could pick up more shifts.”
In addition to better serving the needs of clinicians, flex work can help facilities build better talent pipelines by continuing to employ their most experienced nurses.
“The organization where I worked would lose a lot of the near-retirement clinicians because they just couldn't handle the physicality of a 12-hour shift,” Becker said. “But we still needed their knowledge and expertise, so giving them the opportunity to come in for a four-hour shift or something more manageable kept us from losing them completely. That was huge for pipeline access.”
How to Flex
Because not all workers are looking for the same type of employment, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to staffing. For organizations that are looking to develop their own flex-work programs, Becker suggests starting small and finding an open-minded ally in leadership.
“Look at your data and find one specific department or role or shift where you need help,” she said. “Start there, find your creative leaders that would be willing to pilot it, and then when you can show the success, take it back to the larger C-suite to get their buy-in.”
Once that proof of concept is in place, facilities can continue to grow their flex programs to create a steady stream of on-demand workers that can reduce their reliance on overtime and agencies to meet urgent staffing needs.
That’s what flexibility can really do—cover every shift with the most optimal, cost-effective personnel available. It can also take the pressure off already stressed-out leadership teams, help reduce burnout due to chronic staffing shortages, and make a facility more appealing to clinicians, enhancing its ability to attract and retain quality staff.
Start a conversation today if you’re curious how Matchwell technology can help you jump-start a flexible workforce program.