Medical surge capacity is the ability of healthcare systems to handle sudden increases in demand for healthcare services. This increased demand can occur due to unforeseen circumstances, such as natural disasters or disease outbreaks.
This qualitative study surveyed 53 key hospital capacity management personnel to understand their experiences and views during the 2017-2018 influenza season. The perceived strain was universally reported. Hospitals implemented a range of immediate responses, but future planning was not a priority.
Triage
Hospitals must be prepared to handle patients efficiently when they face a patient surge. It requires having staff that can assess the severity of each case and prioritize patients based on their needs. Triage nurses are a crucial component of this process and are essential in managing patient flow and treatment during medical emergencies.
Healthcare staffing services can help your facility during a patient surge by providing high-quality nurses, therapists, and pharmacists to handle the additional workload. They can also help you meet larger operational goals by streamlining recruitment and onboarding for your organization. It can free up valuable time and resources to focus on more pressing issues.
Staffing agencies can provide qualified candidates immediately, whether you need a nurse, therapist, or pharmacist for a day, a week, or longer. They can also reduce the administrative hassle your staff has to deal with, such as screening and interviewing applicants.
Unlike most job boards, leading healthcare staffing agencies present you with fully screened, qualified professionals who can hit the ground running. It means you can save time on recruiting, training, and credentialing new employees and focus more on your operations during a surge. It is crucial if you manage a hospital, rehab clinic, or any other healthcare setting that depends on high-quality nurses, therapists, and clinicians.
Bed Flow
Healthcare staffing agencies often have a database of qualified medical professionals and can quickly hire additional healthcare workers to assist during high demand. It saves hospital staff from spending time and resources on the recruitment and screening process, which takes them away from other crucial tasks.
When beds are in short supply, it’s crucial to have a simple and effective system for prioritizing patients and managing their flow through the hospital. To do this, hospital teams need timely and accurate information on patient occupancy across the site. Unfortunately, many current bed management tools and processes are not designed to meet the needs of frontline hospital staff.
For example, the day-to-day workflow of a bed management team involves making multiple phone calls, attending frequent meetings, and checking spreadsheets, sometimes physically running from ward to ward and building to build to get real-time information on patient flow and unit capacity. These manual, cumbersome processes can cause significant frustration for the team and result in inaccurate or incomplete data.
Hospitals need to have a robust bed surge plan in place, particularly during winter months. A good plan will include:
- A text message alert to all key members of the team, such as the hospitalist director.
- Directors from the ED, OR/PACU, and Cath lab
- Allied health staff
- Environmental Services
It will trigger a 5-minute meeting to discuss anticipated bed needs for the day based on ED’s current state, expected transfers into the hospital, and flex space available from med/surg units.
Supply Availability
Medical surges often occur when the number of patients needing health services exceeds the hospital’s available resources. It can be caused by various factors, including a pandemic or a raging gastrointestinal bug that leaves people needing care, an accident, or another emergency event. Whatever the reason, the problem can quickly exhaust local healthcare systems and lead to long wait times or a patient’s inability to receive care.
One solution is for hospitals to implement a system that allows staff to manage incoming patients during a medical surge. It includes setting up a designated area where new patients can wait to be seen by a doctor or nurse and providing escorts for those patients who need transportation or to be discharged from the hospital. Hospitals can also set up surge tents, as one medical center did recently after erecting its first tent at the beginning of flu season.
Monitoring the situation hourly is crucial once a facility has implemented its operational surge plan. It involves communication with a broad group of individuals, such as the hospital’s director of ED, OR, Cath Lab, and med/surg and the hospital’s chief nursing officer, who can activate non-clinical space and extended service hours to manage patient flow and capacity management.
Training
When your facility experiences a seasonal increase in utilization, it’s critical to have reliable, skilled healthcare professionals. Staffing agencies make the hiring process more manageable by delivering fully-screened candidates trained in your facility’s policies and procedures. It reduces on-the-job training and frees time to focus on more pressing clinical issues.
Healthcare staffing agencies also help facilities find the right fit for RNs, LPNs, and CNAs looking for a change of pace or a new working environment. Because staffing agencies have built relationships with healthcare professionals, they know their strengths and goals and can match them with the perfect facility.
It’s also worth mentioning that partnering with a staffing agency can be the best way for a hospital to avoid hefty fines and penalties from the government if they need to follow the laws on worker classification and pay. Many staffing firms work with 1099 workers who need the legal protections that full-time employees have. It can be a considerable problem for facilities caught with fines, predominantly when these workers staff them during seasonal patient surges. By partnering with a staffing company that is an Employer of Record, they can avoid these penalties and save money in the long run. It can be a win-win for all parties involved.