It’s widely known that the healthcare sector is experiencing a considerable, years-long shortage when it comes to capable, qualified nursing help. There is a high demand for nurses. One Department of Health and Human Services study projects the need for registered nurses to grow to 3.6 million by 2030. This figure is considerably more than the actual number of nurses working today.

Nowhere is the nursing shortage being felt more than in the home care, long-term care and senior care industries. The nursing profession as a whole is susceptible to burnout. But the physical, mental, and emotional loads that home care nurses are asked to bear often take an even heavier toll. This is why home care workers left the field in droves after the COVID-19 pandemic struck. As a result, today, nursing homes, long-term care facilities and home care agencies are facing historic staffing shortages.

The problem has grown to such proportions as to earn the scrutiny of the U.S. Congress. At a recent Capitol Hill hearing, senators put out a call for novel solutions. As an experienced HR professional with extensive knowledge of the healthcare space, here are a few measures I’d encourage care operators and policymakers to consider.

Encourage self-care and emotional well-being

Nursing is a high-stress and emotionally demanding job. To keep and attract quality nurses to the profession, it’s important to find ways to combat burnout and improve employee satisfaction. To that end, creating a supportive and positive workplace culture is a must.

Access to mental health services can go a long way to reducing turnover and fostering employment longevity for healthcare workers in long-term care. Many caregivers struggle with the emotional toll of caring for seniors. By providing access to mental health resources, such as counseling or support groups, you can help employees cope with the stresses of their job and reduce their risk of burnout. 

However, mere access to such programs isn’t enough. These benefits should be paired with education initiatives and encouragement from management to take advantage of these resources and benefits.

Promote more engagement

Happier employees are more likely to stay in their jobs. But there’s more home care and long-term care operators can do to promote a more rewarding experience for their hard-working nurses. Encouraging more engagement from caregivers in the workplace gives them a voice and a role in driving needed change. There are many benefits to more engaged nursing staff, including:

  • Better patient care
  • Lower turnover
  • Greater job satisfaction
  • Better patient outcomes

How do you create more engagement in your nursing staff?

Provide opportunities for feedback.

There are good reasons why long-term care workers left the field in droves during and following the pandemic. Don’t assume you have all the issues figured out. Create a safe space for your nurses to offer candid and regular assessments of your workplace environment. You can’t fix a problem until you know one exists. Learning about everyday issues that come up gives you a chance to address them before they grow into bigger problems.

Recognize great work.

There’s no better way to build a team-oriented, people-first work culture than by recognizing the people who are great at what they do. Celebrating someone who’s really good at their job, or who’s been doing it for a long time, encourages a sense of pride in the critical work that long-term caregivers do. That recognition is typically repaid by the recipient through loyalty, willingness to take on more responsibility, or mentoring junior members of the team.

Provide a path for advancement.

If you want to retain your best nurses, give them the opportunity to grow in their careers without switching jobs. Encourage and help them pursue continuing education opportunities. Create more senior roles for experienced caregivers. Allow them the freedom to pursue professional and leadership training. 

Make the work easier.

My last suggestion is to find ways to make the caregiver’s job easier. A review of current workflows and processes is a great start. But don’t just stop there. A sustained optimization and modernization effort can deliver huge benefits for efficiency as well as employee morale.

Technology is a big part of any modern business enterprise. There are myriad digital and automated tools that can help make routine, tedious tasks easier — or eliminate them outright. If you’re not taking advantage of the considerable array of healthcare tech solutions, you’re not doing your nurses or your business any favors.

The senior care industry is facing many challenges related to staffing shortages and employee burnout. However, by encouraging caregiver self-care and well-being, promoting a more engaged caregiver culture and prioritizing technology and process that make the job easier, care providers can put themselves in the best possible position to attract and retain top nursing talent. Lean on these strategies to effectively address some of the biggest challenges facing the industry today.

As a career HR professional, Brooke Lewitan brings extensive practical experience to her HR implementation and onboarding manager role at Empeon. People-driven and customer service-oriented, she leverages her impressive knowledge of employee relations and benefits management to help Empeon clients optimize their internal HR processes. Lewitan’s past roles include senior HR positions in commercial real estate, fintech and nonprofit sectors.