A Quick Guide to Solving Healthcare Staffing Shortages - MedCerts

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If you’re worried about your organization’s healthcare staffing, you’re not alone. A survey from hospital staffing firm Leaders for Today revealed that 31% of medical center HR leaders can’t find enough candidates to fill available positions, and 24% say that candidates' qualifications aren’t always trustworthy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there’s now a much greater likelihood that illness, disease exposure, and family health emergencies will keep healthcare personnel home for extended periods. 

Fortunately, there are ways to get qualified candidates on staff and on the floors quickly without compromising care quality. 

Solution 1: Start or Expand an Apprenticeship Program

Apprenticeships solve multiple problems for the short-staffed healthcare organization. You hire a student worker at a reduced pay rate in exchange for providing the hands-on training and education they need to develop as professionals. You close your staffing gap and your new staff members develop essential skills, so you don’t have to worry about patient care declining.

As a designated Apprenticeship Intermediary through the Department of Labor Apprenticeship System, MedCerts can help you to build and launch an approved program. MedCerts will handle all credentialing and approval with the Department of Labor and provide your apprentices with their classroom instruction. All you need to do is provide on-the-job training.

Solution 2: Work with Trusted Training Schools

The less you know about a candidate’s background, the riskier it is to hire them. It's safer to hire through a training school you know you can trust. MedCerts's healthcare training solutions prepare students for national certifications, so you can be confident that the graduate you hire has the skills you need.

When you work with MedCerts’s recruiting team, you get priority access to candidates that have gone through our training programs. Instead of spending time scanning through resumés and looking up unknown schools, you can go straight to the source and hire a qualified candidate.

Solution 3: Hire Candidates with Hands-On Training and Experience

Hiring candidates straight out of school can be a gamble. If you’re not familiar with the program, it’s hard to be sure whether they have the hands-on skills to succeed.

MedCerts integrates experiential learning into all courses. That includes training simulations and 3D virtual scenarios, as well as potential volunteer, shadow, and internship/externship opportunities.

As an employer, you can choose to take on students after their classroom course completes, or you can welcome students for on-site opportunities. If you choose to train students on-site, you direct the type and nature of training.

Solution 4: Provide Upskill Training and Cross-Training to Existing Staff

You can fill many open positions by training people who already work for your organization. It costs less than hiring externally, and you have a much clearer picture of the person you’re taking on. You know their skillset, potential, and personality, so you can evaluate fit before you invest in training.=

By partnering with a healthcare staffing resource like MedCerts, you can secure proven, certification-focused training for individuals or groups of employees. You choose who you want to train and on what skills, and MedCerts applies its expertise to make it happen.

The Takeaway

To meet urgent healthcare staffing needs, you need direct lines to qualified candidates. MedCerts can provide you with those connections. As a trusted provider of healthcare staffing solutions like apprenticeships, on-site work opportunities, and internal development, MedCerts lets you fill your vacancies with qualified and motivated professionals.

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Published on October 12, 2020