Recruiters and staffing agencies talk about quality, but what does filling a placement with a “high-quality clinician” mean? Of course, a nurse at the bedside should have the hard skills required to provide basic patient care, but a quality clinician will provide soft skills such as emotional intelligence, cultural competence and a human-first approach to care, which is essential to exceptional patient care.
Medical Solutions Manager of Clinical Excellence and Matchwell Director of Clinical and Quality Bree Becker reveals how to identify quality candidates, explaining how they make a difference to the workforce and with patient care, and offering insight into the evolution of healthcare technology and its role.
“Quantitative data shows that there are organizational downsides and potential harm to patients when a hospital isn’t adequately staffed with quality nurses,” Becker said. “Their current staff must work even harder and suffer from burnout. That elevated stress level for an extended time will negatively impact patient care and retention rates.”
Characteristics of a quality clinician
A successful practitioner must have the hard technical skills and expertise to fill a role. At Medical Solutions, the clinical team reviews the detailed and comprehensive skills assessment candidates fill out. This helps determine that they are a good fit for the applicable role.
Becker tells us that clinical teams and recruiters should look for factors like “effective communication skills, self-awareness, critical thinking skills, and cultural competency to avoid bias in healthcare settings.” She says, “their verbal and written communication skills should be reviewed, as they will be relaying information virtually and at the bedside. And most root cause analyses of sentinel events can be traced back to breakdown in communication. So, a lot hangs in the balance when it comes to communication.”
Healthcare facilities need compassionate team players—clinicians ready to show up daily, solve problems, and genuinely care for their patients. These skills cannot necessarily be taught. There must be a good balance of soft skills and technical skills to combat nursing shortages.
The role of AI in determining clinician quality
When used strategically, there is absolutely a place in healthcare staffing for AI, even as a time-saving tool, so hiring managers can take a more human-first approach to recruit and ensure quality matches.
In healthcare, artificial intelligence is supplemental to skills checklists, alleviating clinical nurse managers' time assessing the hard, technical skills mentioned above.
With AI, recruiters and hiring managers can spend more time assessing candidates' emotional literacy. Relying solely on AI can put hospital leaders at a disadvantage as it does not allow for a total assessment of the candidate.
AI may not allow a recruiter to determine if a candidate gets defensive when asked to recount an experience where they made a mistake or ask follow-up questions to determine what learning opportunities that candidate may have had.
AI is more than a current trend; it’s a technology that can be incredibly beneficial.
How professional development helps hospitals recruit and retain valuable talent
Quality medicine simply does not exist without professional development and continuing education. This helps clinicians stay current on medical advancements, technology updates, and diagnostic tools. Additionally, professional development initiatives such as the DiSC assessment help promote emotional intelligence by allowing clinicians to learn more about themselves and foster positive communication skills.
“Healthcare policies are changing every couple of years, at least, and providers are consistently learning and pivoting to adapt,” Becker said. “This fast-paced demand in healthcare has only been exacerbated since the pandemic's start.”
This is especially important to remember as Gen Z enters the workforce. They are looking for ways to advance and learn more, and if organizations are not offering that opportunity, then they are losing the chance to recruit and retain quality staff as a result.
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Medical Solutions, one of the nation’s largest healthcare talent ecosystems, connects nurses, allied health clinicians, and clinical leaders with healthcare facilities across the U.S. Its service offerings include contingent staffing, managed services, strike staffing, permanent placement, local contract, per diem staffing, international staffing, and more. Want to learn more about our healthcare talent ecosystem? Contact us today for more information.