For Avera leaders, a national nursing shortage means being more proactive in recruitment and retention than ever before.
“Nursing supports every patient service we provide, and nursing is our largest category of employees,” said Pam Hilber, PhD, Director of Workforce Advancement at Avera.
According to a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 2024 report, there are some 400,000 unoccupied nursing positions nationwide.
Amidst these challenges, Avera was able to increase nurse hiring over the last year. “Health care is a people-centered industry. Maintaining a high level of quality care requires well-trained professionals now and in the future,” said Stacey Erickson, Avera Vice President of Quality and Administrator of the Nursing Service Line at Avera.
The nursing profession can be stressful and challenging – physically, mentally and emotionally. “Yet it’s a rewarding profession because nurses do amazing work. They save lives. They help people, both at their most difficult and most joyous moments. It’s a calling for those people who find the science of medicine engaging, yet also want to invest their career in helping others,” Erickson said.
High-Tech Solutions to Extend Nursing Skills
“Innovation in care delivery through the latest technology, streamlined training and earlier recruiting all are on our table,” Erickson said. “We’re listening to nurses to hear their input, because great ideas come from nurses at all levels in our organization.”
Using technology to extend the skills and expertise of nurses is a major focus of innovation at Avera. “Creative approaches are key to finding our way through these times while helping every nurse work at the top of their license,” said Tamera Larsen-Engelkes, MSN, RN, Chief Nursing Officer at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center and Clinical Lead of the Avera Nursing Service Line.
Virtual nursing is one solution that allows one nurse to monitor multiple beds via interactive video, and support and assist the bedside nurse with tasks such as bedside medication verification and watching out for patients at risk of falling. “This allows the bedside nurses to spend more time caring for patients. It can also offer an exciting career option for that nurse who would prefer to work through technology rather than on their feet all day,” Larsen-Engelkes said.
Yet technology is only one of multiple solutions needed. Another is the continual recruitment of high potential students who want to go into the field of health care.
Removing Barriers for Potential Nurses
For Avera, attracting students to health care careers starts early. One example is the Avera Academy, giving students with challenges such as economic disadvantages or being new Americans the opportunity to pursue high school and college credit while getting exposure to health care careers. “We’ve had high success with this program,” Hilber said: 88% of Avera Academy students are pursuing health care education or working in health care, with nearly 50% having worked at Avera. Job fairs and similar programs help show students that the doors of opportunity are wide open in health care.
Finances can be a barrier for students seeking training and education. Avera works with key education partners on models that help offset the costs of some schooling, including scholarships and sponsorships. Sponsorships provide tuition dollars in exchange for a commitment to work for Avera for a certain time frame after graduating. Avera also offers student loan repayment and tuition reimbursement programs that can help existing or new employees. Avera is always enhancing its partnerships with educational institutions and programs.
Avera’s Career Planning program can be the entry point for degree-holding employees who want to consider options in nursing. In some cases, an employee can complete clinical and classroom coursework to become an RN in as little as 18 months.
“Once nurses are fully trained, our job becomes showing them that Avera is the best choice to not only begin a successful career, but to grow and develop in their career,” Hilber said.
Recruitment and Retention
Avera has widened its search for qualified nurses from not only regionally but nationally and internationally.
Retaining nurses is just as crucial as recruiting. “Retaining the talent we have requires us to collaborate with all of our front-line nurses,” Larsen-Engelkes said. “Our focus is on the everyday, every-hour reality each nurse faces.” Over the past year, Avera improved its retention rate for nurses from 85% to nearly 88%.
Formal and informal mentoring programs help new nurses learn from their more experienced peers. “Blending and balancing the experience levels supports nurses, helps them gain skills and avoid burnout,” Larsen-Engelkes said.
Even as Avera undertakes a major project to expand hospital capacity in Sioux Falls, the demand for qualified nurses will continue to grow. “With our aging population in this region, Avera has known for some time that nursing shortages were on the horizon. We’ve worked for numerous years to form partnerships and put programs in place to develop workforce. Now’s the time to build upon these programs and create new strategies,” Hilber said.
