3 Things a Healthcare Staffing Agency Should Be Doing for You

Healthcare organizations have been struggling to meet staffing needs for several years, and it’s only getting worse. Nationwide COVID-19 surges have left hospitals and other clinical sites struggling to keep enough staff on patient floors. There are also major concerns that clinical staff will burn out and quit, which could leave healthcare organizations short-staffed for years to come.

Traditional methods, such as transferring professionals from other hospitals, are ineffective when the problem is industry-wide. Fortunately, a healthcare staffing agency can take on some of that burden.

What Does a Healthcare Staffing Agency Do?

A healthcare staffing agency takes on the responsibility of sourcing and evaluating job candidates, so you can focus on managing your existing team and coordinating patient care. You provide the information and hiring requirements for the vacancy needing to be filled and the agency will draw on its available resources to find a match.

What Makes a Good Healthcare Staffing Agency?

To be worth the expense, a healthcare staffing agency should have the resources and expertise to find more qualified candidates than you would be able to find on your own. The agency should also be able to hand-pick the most qualified candidates and get them ready to work as soon as possible.

A Broad Recruitment Base

Recruitment is a time-consuming process, especially when there’s a nationwide staffing shortage. Fortunately, most healthcare staffing agencies have large networks they can pull from to recruit. Their pool is larger than what most healthcare organizations can access on their own, so they can find qualified individuals faster.

Advanced Screening

When you hire a healthcare staffing agency, you no longer have to spend valuable time screening out unqualified or underqualified candidates. The agency can match all applicants against your requirements and even conduct background checks so only the most qualified people get to the interview phase.

Healthcare organizations typically have vacancies in multiple types of positions. A healthcare staffing agency can consider a group of candidates and determine which people would be the best candidates to fill particular positions.

Reliable Last-Minute Help

In a 2018 survey of more than 200 leaders in healthcare, almost one in four reported that they worry about the quality of new hires as much as the ability to fill vacancies. Healthcare staffing agencies keep rosters of pre-vetted staff available so even if you have a sudden vacancy, you can get a professional to fill that position quickly without worrying about whether you’ve “settled.”

Thinking Beyond the Agency: What Else Can You Do?

A healthcare staffing agency can be a valuable resource, but it’s important not to put all of your eggs in one basket. Think about what other healthcare staffing solutions are available to you, including but not limited to tapping internal talent.

At any given time, you may have someone on staff who has the perfect mindset, temperament, and fit for a particular position, but they don’t have the clinical or technical qualifications. MedCerts can help you to train these individuals and prepare them to serve where they’re needed while advancing their careers in the process.

Between customized training from MedCerts and the service of a good healthcare staffing agency, which can find and screen candidates even on short notice, you can keep your quality of care high and your staff well taken care of.