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- Flexible nursing shifts can help reduce nursing burnout, which helps retain nurses.
- The pandemic increased the rate at which nurses have left the profession. As many as one-third say they will leave by the end of 2022.
- Nurses can use these apps to find flexible shifts to work around their schedule while filling an urgent need in healthcare.
Did you know there is a technological answer that offers greater flexibility in your nursing shifts? These convenient and easy-to-use apps are slowly taking the place of large temp agencies. They offer more advantages and greater flexibility to nurses and healthcare institutions.
The current nursing shortage has impacted healthcare facilities and patient care for nearly a decade with no signs of getting better soon. The magnitude of the current shortage is greater than past shortages in the U.S. Flexible nursing shifts have helped create a stopgap and address nurse burnout.
Discover some of the flexibility apps provide, how they work, and how they may lower your risk of burnout.
The Advantages of Flexible Nursing Shifts
During the pandemic, nurses left the profession in record numbers, increasing the challenges created by the nursing shortage. Many nurses cited the workload stress, lack of flexibility in the job, and the inability to offer hope to their sick patients.
But the exodus has not ended. According to one survey in November 2021, 32% of nurses said they were considering leaving their direct patient role. Another report from Incredible Health found similar results, with more than one-third reporting they planned to leave their job by the end of 2022. A state-by-state breakdown of the nursing shortage has helped identify areas with the greatest need.
Burnout is a key factor. The desire for flexibility has contributed to the rising number of nurses and healthcare workers who experience burnout. In answer to this challenge, several companies have taken advantage of the digital space to address the issue by creating technology that offers flexible nursing shifts.
Nurses have sought greater flexibility in their work and turned to travel nursing and temporary staffing to fill the need. The current move to flexible staffing apps has also helped to fill the need and potentially lower the risk of burnout.
Creating an opportunity for greater flexibility benefits both healthcare facilities and patients. By offering nurses flexibility that can help reduce burnout, this strategy may help lower the hospital's reliance on travel nurses and the subsequent financial burden from paying premium wages.
It can act as a stopgap to keep more nurses in the workforce as states develop strategies to combat the nursing shortage and nursing schools seek to increase the number of nurses they can accept and graduate. Over 80,400 qualified applicants were turned away from nursing programs across the country in the 2019-2020 school year when schools didn't have the faculty to teach the students.
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9 Apps for Flexible Nursing Shifts
Registered nurses (RNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) can choose from available shifts at healthcare facilities by simply scrolling through an app on their phones. This list of nine apps includes how to sign up, how to get vetted, and how to get paid. When you travel between states in the Nurse Licensure Compact you can take flexible shift options to a new level.
Let's start exploring your options.
ShiftMed
You must first download the app to go through the application process. They hire RNs, LPNs, and certified nursing assistants (CNAs). They also hire state-tested nursing assistants (STNAs) and community health workers (CHWs) to work in many different settings, like hospitals, assisted living communities, and skilled nursing facilities. Once accepted in the system, you can choose to work 8 hours or 40 hours each week.
They currently offer work in 24 states and are continuing to add more. Nurses are employed through ShiftMed as W-2 employees. Payday is every Friday but you have the option to be paid within 24 hours of working. They currently have hired 100,000 nurses and are continuing to grow.
Free
CareRev
You apply through the app, including uploading your license information, state identification/driver's license, and submitting information for a background check and drug screen. You must then pass a live phone interview. The company hires registered nurses, CNAs, medical assistants, and surgical or radiology techs. Currently, the company is working with hospitals in 12 states and is growing.
You are paid through CareRev as a W-9 employee. These are freelance gig workers. Taxes are not withheld, and a 1099 form is issued at the end of the year to pay taxes. You are responsible for paying quarterly taxes, so you do not incur a fine from the IRS at the end of the tax year.
Free
IntelyCare
Nurses working for the company are called IntelyPros. The app includes the application, documentation, certifications, and documented work hours. Nurses are W-2 employees, which means IntelyCare pays payroll taxes.
You have the option of using IntelyCare benefits, which include healthcare, retirement, workers' compensation, and medical malpractice insurance. The company also offers overtime, bonuses, holiday pay, and hazard pay.
You can retrieve a portion of your pay on the same day you work; the regular paycheck comes weekly as a direct deposit. They currently have facilities in 31 states in the Northeast, Midwest, South, and Western states.
Free
ESHYFT
The company is currently working with facilities in 17 states and expanding. They hire CNAs, STNAs, licensed nursing assistants, geriatric nursing assistants, LPNs, and RNs using an in-app or online application process to work with nursing homes and long-term care facilities.Nurses are employees of ESHYFT, which means the company withholds payroll taxes. They offer no other benefits at this time. Nurses who work over 40 hours a week are paid at an overtime rate. Payment is sent weekly using the method you decide during the application process.
Free
ShiftKey
The ShiftKey platform allows you to indicate credentials and highlight your certifications and specialties. You can set the app to send an email or text for the shift or placement you would like to work. The application process happens online, and you can find shifts online or in the app.Nurses are hired as W-2 employees, so ShiftKey takes out payroll taxes. They partnered with Stride to offer cost-effective benefits, such as health, dental, life, and vision insurance. You can choose to be paid the next day on the company PayCard or through weekly direct deposits.
Free
SnapNurse
The company works with over 1,000 healthcare facilities throughout 41 states, so you are likely to find flexible nursing shifts in your area. You can apply online and find shifts in your area through the app. The company works quickly; you can get credentialed and begin working within 24 hours.You can browse available shifts or set filters to send available shifts in your area. The company posts over 25,000 available shifts each week. You can get paid immediately after the shift ends. The company offers pro re nata or "as-needed" contracts in addition to short-term (two weeks) and long-term (as long as six months) assignments.They currently have over 350,000 staff working through the company. Nurses are paid as W-2 employees, and the company does offer some benefits that are not published on its website.
Free
Pick A Shift
This company works exclusively with residential communities and nursing homes to provide staffing. You must download and apply through the app before registering with the care facilities in your area. Pick A Shift provides the facilities with the necessary documentation and credentials. The facility then verifies the applicant's credentials.After the facility has approved the nurse's credentials, Pick A Shift sends a notification of when shifts are available. The pay for the shift rises as it gets closer to the scheduled shift. You are paid through the facility's payroll for the shift at the rate it was claimed.
Free
Nurseio
You apply online through the company website. The company provides staffing for a variety of healthcare settings, including residential communities, rehabilitation centers, assisted living, behavioral health, memory care, hospice, and postacute care.You clock in and out through the Nurseio app and are paid immediately after the shift has ended. The company is only working in a few states but is actively working to expand.
Free
Nursa
Nursa works with RNs, LPNs, and CNAs to fill per diem shifts in healthcare facilities across 19 states. You have the freedom to work as much or as little as you choose. The application process occurs inside the app, including adding banking information for weekly direct deposit and filling out a W-9 form as a freelance worker.
The per diem shifts are posted in the app, which you may browse using search filters. After completing a shift, you are required to complete a shift report in the app.
Free
Sources
Berlin G, et al. (2022). Surveyed nurses consider leaving direct patient care at elevated rates. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/healthcare-systems-and-services/our-insights/surveyed-nurses-consider-leaving-direct-patient-care-at-elevated-rates
Mensik H. (2022). Third of nurses plan to quit their jobs by end of 2022, survey shows.
https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/nurse-burnout-covid-quit-travel-incredible-health/620488/
Nursing faculty shortage. (2020). https://www.aacnnursing.org/news-information/fact-sheets/nursing-faculty-shortage
Nurse licensure compact. (2022). https://www.ncsbn.org/compacts/nurse-licensure-compact.page
Scottie A. (2021). Traumatized and tired, nurses are quitting due to the pandemic.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/25/us/nurses-quit-hospitals-covid-pandemic-trnd/index.html
Schmidt A. (2020). We need to talk about burnout the same way we talk about benefits.
https://www.aha.org/news/blog/2020-10-20-we-need-talk-about-burnout-same-way-we-talk-about-benefits
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Updated March 22, 2023
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