IntelyCare insights

IntelyCare insights

IntelyCare is the largest digital nurse staffing platform in the United States. Through advanced machine learning and behavioral science, IntelyCare’s easy-to-use app matches nursing professionals with open assignments at its post-acute partners. In doing so, IntelyCare is leading the work evolution for nurses.

COVID-19 cases surge at nursing homes

Nursing homes have reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases ever among staff, and positive cases among residents also continue to climb.

David Coppins, co-founder and CEO of Intely­Care, discusses the dire need for updating the nurse staffing model:

“Hospitalizations due to the Omicron variant are increasing nationwide, but the biggest areas of risk remain in long-term care and assisted living facilities. While the risk to the residents of these facilities is evident, there is cause for heightened concern for the nursing professionals caring for these vulnerable patients. The pressure on these caregivers has been steadily mounting, and we’ve already seen 400,000 nurses and aides leave long-term care since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Coppins continues, “With all the chronically ill patients, level of acuity, long periods away from family, and the amount of death, it’s simply too much. The time is now to provide a staffing model that enables long-term care nurses to work sustainable hours. We simply cannot expect to continue to address the 24/7 demand for patient care by burning out our most valuable resource in healthcare.”

New guidelines for long-term care facilities

At least four states have announced new guidelines for long-term care facilities in response to rising COVID concerns.

“The fluctuations in vaccine mandates at the state and national levels continues to create a lot of confusion for both facilities and staff around the guidelines and deadlines that need to be adhered to,” Coppins states. “To provide up-to-date guidance on compliance and help combat the ongoing staffing shortages, technology that allows for automated communication and leverages data science to help fill gaps in nursing shifts has to be used. IntelyCare has been proactively preparing for the various mandates by regularly adding new features and functionality in our platform to ensure that all of our providers are compliant with the latest regulations. And by coupling data and behavioral science models with machine learning capabilities in our platform, we are helping to drive higher fill rates for our facility partners.”

Top healthcare trends for 2022

According to IntelyCare Chief Clinical Officer Rebecca Love, the nurse staffing shortage will continue to impact the industry if facilities do not address the commoditized way nurses are treated in the nation’s healthcare model.

New data from IntelyCare found that 41 percent of nurses are contemplating leaving their current roles.

Love says while the working and safety conditions created by the virus are exacerbating the staffing crisis, it’s the pre-COVID systematic issues hampering nurses that will continue to make the shortage worse during 2022. Stopping this massive nursing labor gap from widening will have to start with addressing the commoditized way nurses are treated in the nation’s healthcare model.

Other predictions from IntelyCare include:
• Gig work will crossover into the nursing profession. The gig economy has thrived on the backs of workers who value flexibility over the stable confines of traditional employment. Staffing agencies who are placing talent will need technology to properly balance flexibility with stability to enable nurses to pick up single shifts or build schedules weeks in advance, while ensuring they maintain effective market liquidity for supply and demand.
• Burnout will worsen alongside the staffing shortage. A recent survey by IntelyCare found that nearly 40 percent of nurses can not take time off when they want to. Five patients per nurse is the optimal ratio for general medicine floors in the United States. When facilities are understaffed, the ratio climbs to six, eight, even one-to-twelve. Before March 2020, a string of staff shortages would eventually end, but not now. People cannot function exposed to this kind of pressure and trauma nonstop for two years.
• Demand for better pay and benefits will increase. Nurses will continue to demand for better pay and benefits which will cause shortages to worsen if not addressed by facilities.