Staff retention is one of the biggest challenges in senior living and skilled nursing facilities today, and many are turning to agency staffing to fill shifts and provide care for residents. However, many of these agencies charge up to 150% to employ skilled staff which is causing a significant financial strain on these communities. Finding ways to reduce turnover and increase staff retention must be a priority to prevent further losses. The good news is, the Accushield  FLEX solution can help! Keep reading to learn more about how to address staff retention with flexible staff scheduling.

Why is Agency Staffing on the Rise?

There are many reasons why the use of agency staffing has been increasing, and at the core of this problem is the heightened rate of employee turnover in nursing homes and senior living facilities.

Healthcare professionals in the industry are demanding a better working environment with higher pay, better benefits, and more flexible schedules. Staffing agencies allow these workers to have the opportunity to gain a higher-paying position with greater flexibility than if they were full-time staff members in a senior living or long-term care facility. Additionally, a separate survey from AHCA/NCAL reveals that “recruitment is the biggest challenge when it comes to alleviating staffing shortages. 96% of nursing homes said they are struggling with hiring new staff, and almost half of nursing home providers reported that their workforce situation has worsened since May 2022.”

With full-time staff on a decline, senior residents are outnumbering healthcare professionals at an alarming rate which is increasing the dependency on agency staffing. However, because agencies charge such significant amounts, facilities are facing many challenges with profit reduction as well as quality of care.

Address Staff Retention with Accushield FLEX

The mission of FLEX is to improve the quality and cost of healthcare through smarter staff management.

Accushield’s FLEX solution empowers you to optimize your workforce more efficiently by overcoming these many challenges associated with agency staffing and employee turnover. Flexible scheduling gives employees greater flexibility to work when they want and provides more opportunities to pick up shifts as they become available. Allowing staff to utilize more efficient scheduling also increases overall satisfaction leading to higher quality care and enhanced retention.

We do understand, however, that staffing agencies will be be needed in some scenarios. When a shift cannot be fulfilled by an internal staff member, FLEX offers a better shift fulfillment solution than manually contacting agencies and being at their mercy for pricing and availability. Through a centralized labor pool, you can sort and select the agencies you would like to employ based on many different factors, including price and rating.

Product Details

Scheduling

Manage and monitor scheduling of internal and external staff – all in one place.

• Save administrative time
• See and fill gaps at a glance
• Reduce overtime hours
• Avoid scheduling conflicts

Shift Call-Out

In the event of an available shift, a shift call-out can be sent to all available employees. These employees can be selected based on different criteria such as seniority, experience, and others.

• Instantly connect with available staff
• Prioritize staff with criteria-based callout
• Send and receive automatic push notifications
• Prioritize shifts with configurable lead times
• Retain full visibility over callout activity

Communications through the FLEX Mobile App

Enable employees to see their schedule, set preferences, and accept shifts that come available automatically. In-app messaging also enables direct or group communication.

• 24/7 access to schedules
• Increased engagement with instant access to available shifts
• Simpler, direct communication with 2-way messaging
• Stronger team connection and organization with real-time updates

Agency Care Network

While the goal of FLEX is to reduce agency spend as much as possible by fulfilling more shifts with internal staff members, there will be times that agency staffing is needed. Through the Agency Care Network, available shifts can be scheduled to be sent out to all or a selected group of agencies on the platform before the shift begins.

• Connect with with your existing partners
• Access a qualified network of healthcare professionals
• Fill shifts with ease with vetted staff

Whats Next?

Here is what’s coming next for FLEX…

• FLEX Insights Report
• Mobile App Integration
• SSO for FLEX Dashboard and Accushield Dashboard

Want to get started?

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Accushield is dedicated to continual improvement across all application experiences (kiosk, mobile app, and dashboard), making them more consistent, accessible, and intuitive for all users.

Accushield is a healthcare technology company. Our onsite hardware and software provide visitor/staff management, infection prevention and control, and health/safety compliance via automation and reporting.