It’s no secret within the healthcare community that we don’t have enough nurses and health professionals to meet our nation’s needs.
Nursing shortages are growing, leaving facilities crowded and staff stretched thin, all contributing to worsened patient outcomes due to a lack of resources. These trends should spark concern for the healthcare industry, because any day, it could be one of us, a family member, or a loved one who needs that life-saving care.
Now more than ever, it is a top priority for healthcare leaders to initiate efforts to improve nurse retention, preventing shortages from worsening. One way to accomplish this is through nurse mentorship programs.
Why nurse mentorship matters
We know that nurse mentorship is crucial in healthcare, but as budgets are stretched to maximum capacity, mentorship programs are often on the chopping block. What leadership sometimes fails to consider is the ROI of nurse mentorship programs, and how they can positively impact facilities, from cost-efficiency to positive patient outcomes to staff retention.
How to measure the ROI of nurse mentorship programs
Nurse mentorship programs require upfront planning, and in some cases, financial buy-in. While the benefits of nurse mentorship programs outweigh the costs associated with them, proving the ROI associated with them can be beneficial for securing support from executives and high-level leadership.
Here are some of the impacts I’ve noticed from nurse mentorship programs as a result of my experience as a former director of nursing.
Nurse mentorship programs reduce time spent on menial tasks
Nurse mentorship programs produce seasoned, experienced nurses. Through mentorship, nurses learn new skills, practice more efficient ways of performing tasks, have a deep understanding of their environment, and boost confidence in their abilities. This level of understanding and confidence not only increases patient satisfaction and outcomes but also reduces time spent on menial tasks that eat up a large portion of a nurse’s hours.
An average nurse spends “approximately 10% of their time on delegable and non-nursing activities.” In a traditional 36-hour work week, that’s nearly four hours spent on non-patient-focused tasks. In the midst of the nursing shortage, decreasing time spent on non-essential, non-nursing-related tasks in a more streamlined manner is critical.
Financial ROI for facilities
Nurse mentorship programs offer significant financial ROI for facilities. More seasoned nurses tend to have better patient outcomes and more experience providing quality patient care. The longer a nurse’s tenure at a facility, the shorter the patient’s stay typically is. Shorter patient stays typically mean patients are more effectively treated, leading to less facility spend on long-term patient care and fewer readmissions. It also means new patients can enter a facility and receive care quickly without creating blocks in the system.
Additionally, when nursing leadership is rated higher in a healthcare environment, rates of hospital-related injuries are lower. This decreases spending on treating hospital-related injuries and boosts the facility’s reputation, which can bring in more revenue.
Promotes a strong team environment
A strong culture and environment can be a major retention factor. According to a study on nurse mentorship, “nursing mentorship was beneficial for the majority of mentees on their decision to remain in nursing, and on their self-confidence, problem-solving, professional communication, and transition to practice, with perceived benefits steadily increasing for mentees up to 2 years.”
With nurse mentorship, positive onboarding, and strong worker relations, facilities are seeing healthier team environments, lower churn, and stronger employees. Lowered churn rates lead to fewer upfront costs for training new individuals, recruiting to fill the gap, and finding per diem staff to fill gaps. With the average cost of losing an employee reaching $52,350, focusing on lowering churn is now critical.
How Medely is helping boost nurse mentorship
Medely is playing an active role in closing the nationwide healthcare staffing gap. By offering administrators tools for workforce orchestration, including easily booked extended labor and systems to optimize internal teams, we’re able to play a real role in closing the nationwide healthcare staffing gap. It gives me peace of mind knowing that the work we do helps close that gap.
Want to learn more about nurse mentorship? Check out our previous article here.
