The realities of healthcare staffing

Demand keeps growing

BLS projects that from 2025 to 2035, healthcare roles will add hundreds of thousands of jobs: about 847,300 for home health and personal care aides and about 194,700 for registered nurses, for example. Every year, many more openings come from people retiring or changing careers.

What shortages cost

When units run short, the people who stay carry the load. The U.S. Surgeon General's 2022 advisory on health worker burnout links heavy workloads and understaffing to burnout, and burnout to people leaving the field, which makes the shortage worse.

What facilities can do

1. Plan coverage before the gap. Know your typical census swings and build a bench of qualified people you can call.
2. Make it easy to say yes. Clear shift details, quick onboarding and fair, transparent pay.
3. Keep the people you have. Reasonable workloads, flexible schedules and real recognition.
4. Grow your own. Support aides who want to become LPNs or RNs, and host clinical rotations: many students take jobs where they trained.
5. Lower the cost of flexibility. Agency markups add up; working with professionals directly can cost less.

How SHIFTit helps

SHIFTit is a workforce technology platform that lets healthcare providers source, manage and hire SHIFTerz directly, with built-in compliance and education and zero transfer fees. Book a call with our team to see how SHIFTit works for your facility.