What’s going on:
Hospital systems such as Providence and Advocate Health, two of the country’s largest health systems, are using ‘gig apps’ like ShiftKey and CareRev to attract nurses.
ShiftKey enables employees to place bids on hospital shifts. CareRev’s app helps hospitals change their pay rates to match the demand for nurses, decreasing the price of popular shifts and boosting them for those who choose to work overnights and holidays, according to WSJ.
Why it matters:
The Covid-19 pandemic caused thousands of nurses to either retire early or leave the field entirely. The number of employed nurses decreased by over 100,000 from 2020 to 2021 – the biggest drop within four decades, as reported in the Health Affairs journal.
Gig apps provide nurses with greater independence than other typical short-term job opportunities, which can tie nurses down to contracts lasting multiple weeks. In Wisconsin, Advocate Health hospitals has leveraged gig nurses and nurses’ aides to fill 5,000 hospital shifts, and now they’re eyeing Illinois hospitals for potential expansion, according to Midwest Chief Nursing Officer for Advocate Hospitals in Wisconsin and Illinois, Jane Dus.
How it’ll impact the future:
Gig apps will increasingly be used to attract employees to fill the employment gaps as staff vacancies continue to impact the day-to-day operations at hospitals nationwide.
