Derek Jones

As we enter 2022, we want to reflect on some of the biggest challenges nurses faced in 2021 - the second pandemic year.

Knowing the essential need for nurses as frontline personnel during COVID-19, the struggles they went through shouldn’t come as a surprise. But, are we overlooking the difficulties of this profession?

Let’s look at a few of the most significant pain points for nurses in 2021 and see how they can become prepared and more resilient in the future.

Nurses and public health workers experienced increased 

 in 2021. The pandemic took many lives and brought on fear among all of us, especially nurses, since they were the immediate caregivers for COVID-19 patients.

This type of emotional trauma is perhaps why so many 

The second great challenge nurses faced in 2021 was the fear of contracting COVID-19 at the workplace. Nurses in every clinic had this fear, especially those working in COVID-19 centers and clinics.

Throughout 2021, many clinics had deficits of PPE (personal protective equipment), making this fear even more realistic. Naturally, one solution to the problem is ensuring your clinic has enough PPE on stock at all times, especially vital things like face masks. On top of that, you should rotate nurses’ shifts properly to avoid transmission and ensure they’re well-rested.

, 34.1% of nurses experienced emotional exhaustion, 12.6% fought depersonalization, and 15.2% felt a lack of personal accomplishment. These are all signs of burnout.

All healthcare personnel are at a greater risk of burnout. However, nurses - especially those who work on the frontlines - are most at risk. They’re often overworked and exhausted, with a poor work-life balance.

 to help them during busy periods to prevent overworked staff. By doing this, you’ll lift some weight off your nurses’ shoulders and allow them to take days off to take care of their mental and emotional health.

As we’ve mentioned above, frontline nurses are often exhausted, overworked, and at risk for burnout. But, how do you prevent this from happening when there’s a global deficit of nurses?

Luckily, you can have an on-demand talent pool with technology! For instance, implementing 

 in your clinic is one way to automate and plan your nurse shifts in advance. Furthermore, these scheduling tools can help you plan coverage weeks and find last-minute replacements when you need them the most.

Although improper wages aren’t a new problem for nurses, the need for better compensation became more apparent when the pandemic started.

Throughout 2020 and 2021, the world finally realized the importance of the caregiver and nursing professions. However, we didn’t match that in wages. At the moment, being a nurse isn’t that lucrative.

, the majority of Americans agree that aids and nurses are underpaid. But, we still need to take action and work on boosting the pay if we want to increase the number of nurses available during and post-pandemic.

Becoming more resilient is a crucial factor for nurses to stay sane in this demanding profession. Here are some key takeaways:

Taking a step back to breathe and care for your own needs is just as important as patient care. Caring for others becomes a struggle when you’re not in the right emotional space.

, especially during a pandemic. Clinics have to prioritize nurses’ and caregivers’ mental health and find ways to support them.

Many challenges nurses face result from poorly structured workflows, scheduling problems, and a lack of organization in a clinic. Additionally, during COVID-19, teamwork and crisis management became more important than ever before.

All clinics have to take actionable steps to improve workflows and avoid under-staffing or overstaffing (to avoid the risk of transmission).

Being surrounded by people who support you and take care of you is a must when you spend the whole day caring for others.

So, build a support network of family, friends, and nursing colleagues who understand the challenges you face daily. Talk to them and exchange experiences and ideas.

Nursing isn’t an easy profession, especially during a global pandemic outbreak. The mental, physical, and emotional toll of the job can severely impact the life quality of nurses and cause more and more of them to leave their jobs behind and look for something less challenging.

Pair that with the less-than-ideal work conditions and compensation, and you can understand the severity of the issue.

Moving forward in 2022, we’ll hopefully realize the mistakes on a global scale and take steps to improve these challenges, making nurses more resilient in the future.

, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication. With a focus on healthcare, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor costs in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

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Burnout problems persisted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but have been made worse since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Biggest Challenges Nurses Faced In 2021 And How To Become More Resilient In The Future

Healthcare is not only about treating patients anymore. This sector has been rapidly evolving over the past decade. With ever-changing government regulations and unforeseen challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare managers have had to up their game to adapt to the situation. Added to these is the shift in patient expectations and fast-changing technological innovations.

In this article, we take a look at 5 critical challenges that healthcare managers will face in 2022 and beyond.

While telehealth has been a much-debated concept over the past decade, its adoption has skyrocketed recently. Indeed, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the percentage of U.S. consumers using telehealth has surged from 

%. This study by McKinsey also reveals that 76% of consumers are “highly or moderately likely” to use telehealth in the future.

Healthcare managers need to be ready for the increased demand for telehealth. This involves having the right types of equipment, environment, and properly trained staff. Yet, health care organizations will still need to accommodate face-to-face interactions, such as treating patients with Alzheimer’s.

 Ready-up for the telehealth boom but keep in mind that the current regulations will very likely be amended multiple times before a consensus is found.

2.  The Shift in Patient Experience and Expectations

As new technology and new regulations steadily make their way into healthcare, consumers’ experience and expectations may evolve. More and more patients may expect a streamlined patient experience that matches other consumer brands they are familiar with. Consumers crave convenience, such as being able to book appointments or download their health records on the go.

This can be especially tricky for healthcare firms that offer 

developing a shift scheduling for employees

, different patient data also needs to be consolidated and updated routinely. Healthcare firms that manage to pull this off will have the upper hand against healthcare providers still lagging behind.

 Patients and healthcare staff need to have access to the latest and most up-to-date data at all times.

3.  The Urgent Need for Transparent Pricing

Price transparency in the healthcare sector has been a roadblock for a long time now. More often than not, consumers fail to pay their financial responsibility due to confusing medical bills. In some cases, the lack of payment options is also a deterrent for consumers.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

 (CMS) has introduced and enforced new regulations as of January 2021. Hospitals are now required to provide “clear, accessible pricing information online”, about the different services they offer. Yet, as of July 2021, only 

 of hospitals were fully compliant with the new regulations.

 Healthcare managers need to ensure their organization is compliant with CMS policies as soon as possible.

As mentioned above, there are a number of consumers who fail to meet their financial responsibilities due to the current ineffective payment models. As consumer expectation shifts, patients, payers, and stakeholders are demanding 

. Examples include shared savings for patients, global payments, and even bundled payments.

Healthcare managers should keep in touch with the latest fintech advances and early adopters. Providing new payment models should benefit both the patient and the organization. In the best-case scenario, new payment models should improve patient outcomes, while reducing operational costs and maintaining profitability.

 Any new payment model to be implemented should be tested, analyzed, and fine-tuned before going live.

Data breaches and cybersecurity concerns have for long been a concern for the healthcare sector. Yet, the past couple of years has highlighted the vulnerability of sensitive data, as more patients turned to telehealth. From 

, it was reported that the healthcare data of 44,369,781 individuals has been compromised.

Healthcare managers should invest in securing their infrastructure and sensitive information. Also, it is crucial to ensure that all third-party technologies used are secure and possess the HITRUST Certification. Failing to do so not only damages the healthcare firms’ reputation but also makes them liable to heavy financial penalties.

 Data protection should be part of any healthcare provider’s routine operations and have a dedicated budget on its own.

The healthcare industry is changing rapidly and new challenges crop up regularly. According to a study by 

, the global market for healthcare will reach a staggering $11.9 trillion by 2022. Still, this growth comes with numerous challenges attached. It is vital for healthcare managers to find new ways to improve patient outcomes, reduce costs and improve the productivity of healthcare organizations. Overcoming these roadblocks will shape the future of the healthcare sector and turn it into a more sustainable industry.

, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication.  With a focus on healthcare, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor costs in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

Managers will face a number of challenges in the next year.

Five Challenges Healthcare Managers Will Face In 2022 And Beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic changed healthcare delivery and consumption around the world. The severity of this disease and the rate at which it spread disrupted healthcare responsiveness in all aspects. It fueled innovations in healthcare delivery in a very short time, which brought significant positive changes in healthcare approaches.

More importantly, most of these changes will stick around even post COVID-19 because people received them quite well. In this article, we highlight four of these COVID-19 changes that will continue to be practiced by healthcare workers after the pandemic.

COVID-19 caused a huge acceleration in the practice of telehealth. In the US alone, the 

 from 19% in 2019 to 46% in 2020. Healthcare providers had to scale up their offerings because there was a massive exponential growth in the number of patients serviced via telehealth.

 mainly serviced those who needed urgent virtual care. However, the increase in the adoption and consumption of telehealth saw healthcare workers extending telehealth beyond urgent virtual care. There was a big expansion in the types of health services available in telehealth, prompted by the lifting of many regulatory restrictions.

Consequently, at least 89% of people under the age of 55 were reported to have 

booked their medical appointments online 

this year, instead of walking in. Likewise, most healthcare workers were able to carry out risk assessments virtually.

Most importantly, telehealth was a catalyst to safer patient-centric experiences. It helped reduce the risks associated with COVID-19 infections. As a result, this 

shift to telehealth and telemedicine will stay post COVID-19

 because patients value the flexibility and safety it offers. 

2. Reliance on data analytics in healthcare

The use of data analytics by healthcare institutions was already on the rise pre COVID-19. However, the pandemic accelerated data reliance in healthcare even more. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, data analytics played an integral part in shaping the responsiveness of healthcare institutions.  Big amounts of data were collected during the pandemic. 

 at testing sites, in hospitals, clinical studies, and on social media. The result was tracking and monitoring global patient outcomes through data. They were also able to anticipate future healthcare demands through data analytics.

Furthermore, through data insight, healthcare institutions were able to better identify the patients more at risk from contracting the disease. These 

 enabled them to determine hospital capacity shortages and staff shortages in advance. Almost all important healthcare decisions made during the pandemic were supported by data.

Post COVID-19, health workers will continue relying on data insights. They realized the value of data, so data tracking will be extended to other prevailing diseases like HIV, cancer, and diabetes to unearth new healthcare solutions.

Another interesting data trend that manifested during the pandemic was 

. In their efforts to develop the best vaccine for the COVID-19 disease, important health information that would not have been available to everyone  pre COVID-19 was published. This democratization of data fostered collaboration amongst healthcare globally. It also fuelled the innovation that was needed in the development of COVID-19 vaccines.

Going forward, healthcare providers are going to arm their healthcare workers with all necessary information and knowledge so that they make smart decisions and also provide better patient care. By giving everyone the same level of access to information in healthcare, 

 across the world will be gradually abolished. An increase in data democratization will be an important step towards making healthcare a public good post covid.

Another big shift in healthcare brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic was an increase in access to primary care medical services. Healthcare workers were testing people for COVID-19 in the comfort of their workplaces and homes. This service was very convenient for people so post COVID-19, we are likely to continue to see healthcare workers in all the areas where we hang out. This is the notion of distributed care.

 is a system whereby care is formally redistributed from hospitals and clinics to home care, workplaces, etc. By taking primary health care to where people reside, hospitals will now mainly serve secondary care. The biggest advantage of this new system will be 

. By eliminating the overhead costs that come with medical facilities, there will be a reduction in medical costs.

When the pandemic hit, shift work management became crucial because it was important to avoid understaffing and overstaffing at the same time. One of the biggest game-changers for healthcare institutions during the pandemic was using 

Automated scheduling systems came to the rescue because they helped hospitals to plan their staffing in advance. Even more amazing is the fact that these systems offered healthcare workers real-time communication and the flexibility to choose and swap shifts by themselves. This led to improved  healthcare efficiencies, so the use of these scheduling softwares will continue after the pandemic.

The devastating effects of the pandemic are evident in each sphere of the healthcare sector. But along with these scars came opportunities that positively disrupted healthcare systems forever. This new normal for healthcare workers will assist in future healthcare preparedness should another pandemic come, and should therefore be fully embraced.

Derek Jones talks about how the pandemic will shape healthcare in the coming years.

Five COVID-19 Induced Changes For Healthcare Workers That Will Stick Around

 healthcare institutions rely on extra shift workers. Currently, there is a big demand for extra shift workers due to population growth and aging. The Covid-19 pandemic exerted even more pressure and healthcare worker shortages increased. The work of these extra shift workers affects patient outcomes in hospitals, so recruitment managers should follow these eight tips when hiring extra shift workers.

1. Advertise the jobs on niche health boards

 works best in healthcare, especially if compared to open or general advertising. Niche job boards are industry-focused, making it simple to find strong job candidates. This is why you need to place job adverts for extra shift workers on dedicated healthcare job boards -you will reach the appropriate candidates quicker.General job boards reach a wider audience, but many jobs get lost in the shuffle. As a result, many job candidates find them frustrating: they are difficult to navigate so it is better not to use them.

2. Put an orientation program in place before selecting the candidates

Even the most experienced candidates need orientation in a new job. The process enables them to become familiarized with their work environment faster. Orientation programs empower shift workers with confidence to provide excellent patient care.However, for this program to work, you need to design it beforehand.The program structure must be comprehensive enough to cover all aspects of the extra shift workers’ jobs. In addition, program leaders must provide the new employees with feedback and all the necessary support throughout the process.

3. Ask behavioral questions during the interview

Behavioral questions reveal the job candidates` skill set in patient care, as well as their communication skills. Through their answers, you will get to know more about the candidates, making the final hiring decision easier.

Ask them questions like “How do you pacify aggressive patients?” or “How do you respond to unprofessional co-workers?” Such questions target actual behavior on the job. Their responses will help you predict their future job behavior.

It is crucial to conduct thorough background checks when hiring extra shift workers in healthcare. They help to mitigate any risks associated with hiring unfit candidates. Moreover, they assist in upholding the company's reputation and patient safety.

Background checks in healthcare should include identity verification, criminal and sex offense searches. Verify the educational qualifications of the job candidates through the healthcare board. Certain roles need candidates to be board-certified. Drug screening is equally important.

5. Have a panel of experts when selecting extra shift workers

Panel interviews offer a better assessment compared to one-on-one interviews. They present an opportunity for assessing how a candidate manages group dynamics.They also provide different perspectives on the hiring process. On the other hand, job candidates get a feel of the organization's culture through interacting with different people. This familiarity is important because it enables faster candidate integration.

6. Diversity is key in healthcare staffing

Healthcare institutions serve people of various genders, ages, backgrounds, races, and ethnicities. Therefore, representation in healthcare staffing is a must if you want to improve the patient experience. Patients must see themselves within the health workforce. Besides, 

 suggests that diverse companies outperform those with minimal diversity. This means that healthcare institutions must prioritize diversity - and hiring a team of extra shift workers is no exception.

The time taken to hire extra shift workers 

 as possible. Each day wasted affects patient outcomes in healthcare institutions, so streamline the whole process for better efficiencies and better healthcare service delivery.

Long hiring processes have many hidden costs. Furthermore, shift workers in healthcare are in high demand, so you may lose candidates during a lengthy recruitment process. Additionally, slow processes damage candidate experience, and consequently the company image as well.

Shift workers in healthcare work with various stakeholders, including patients. Their skill set must include compassion, patience, and emotional intelligence. Good communication and collaboration skills are equally important, because shift work relies on teamwork. Therefore, only hire candidates with a people-centered approach for better patient outcomes, satisfaction, and customer care.

In the same way, shift workers who lack empathy and critical thinking may bring the company into disrepute. Bottom line - avoid hiring job candidates lacking these skills, as they are not a 

 Patients prefer healthcare institutions with a good reputation.

Healthcare institutions need a good recruitment strategy when hiring extra shift workers. If they don’t have one, they may outsource the job to agencies. But regardless of what their recruitment looks like, a reputable employer brand will attract and keep the best talent in healthcare. Approximately 

 believe that their work contributes to their company’s success. Healthcare institutions must capitalize on this by providing great employee experiences - and shift workers are the pillar of healthcare.

, a global workforce management platform for employee scheduling, timesheets and communication. With a focus on healthcare, Derek helps business owners and workforce leaders simplify employment law compliance, keep labor cost in line and build award-winning workplaces. Derek has over 16 years’ experience in delivering data-driven sales and marketing strategies to SaaS companies like MarketSource and Griswold Home Care.

Derek Jones, VP Enterprise Strategy, Americas at Deputy, explains how healthcare facilities should hire extra shift workers. 