Healthcare Combats RN Shortage with Unique Offerings

With America's nursing shortage on the rise � projected for a deficit of over one million nurses by the year 2024* � the need to attract young nurses has become more prominent now than ever before. As the retiree count trends upwards, healthcare organizations are becoming increasingly motivated to develop incentive for new RN recruits to combat the U.S. nursing shortage at hand.The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the employment rate to increase 15 percent over the next eight years; and sign-on bonuses are not always enough to appeal to the able-bodied talent that organizations are looking for.

Common Approaches

So what can attract the capable, bright-minded nurses of tomorrow that the U.S. so desperately needs in the midst of this shortage? Some hospital systems � such as UC Health, with locations spanning across the Western U.S., -- provide up to a $4,000 annual bonus, in addition to the option of a 13-week-rotation incentive. Other healthcare organizations will even offer up to a five-figure sign on bonus, as well as five-figure offerings to cover relocation costs � a strategic move implemented by Inova Health System. Common incentives can include tuition reimbursement, as an investment in our future,� as described by Melissa Turner, vice president of talent acquisition for the Yale New Haven Health system.

Getting Creative

Hospitals, such as�Mercy Children's Hospital in St. Louis, MO, are even going as far as to implement the flexibility of allowing pediatric nurses to take summers off work. Mercy leaders said if this out-of-the-box method for nurse retention works in pediatrics, they may expand seasonal staffing to other departments in the future.*

Another Alternative

Healthcare systems are spending billions to recruit RNs and combat the nursing shortage at hand, through alternatives such as costly travel nurses, cash incentives, and flexible work schedules, as shown by a 2017 Reuters analysis report*. But what if there was a solution better than a temporary fix, that was achievable without extra spend? PassportUSA has the innovative solution that hundreds of facilities across the country are turning to as they get ahead of the U.S. nursing shortage.Learn more about the International Workforce Solutions�PassportUSA offers, and how you can save hundreds-of-thousands on your financial spend, while strategically building the strong future your hospital needs.

*Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor � http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecopro.pdf*Source: Reuters � https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-nursing/short-on-staff-nursing-crisis-strains-u-s-hospitals-idUSKBN1CP0BD*Source�: KMOV News, St. Louis: http://www.kmov.com/story/38499091/nursing-shortage-prompts-st-louis-hospital-to-offer-summers-off