Nursing agency

Last updated

A Nursing Agency (also known as Home Health Agency or Home Care Agency) is a service provider agency which provides nurses and usually health care assistants (such as Certified Nursing Assistants) to people who need the services of home healthcare professionals. Nurses are normally engaged by the agency on temporary contracts and make themselves available for hire by hospitals, nursing homes, eldercare centers, and other providers of care for help during busy periods or to cover for staff absences. Some nurses may be seconded to private clients who choose to receive their nursing care within their own homes.

Contents

Nature of work

As with other staffing agencies, a large amount of capital is necessary to operate, since nurses must be paid by the registry as often as they work, but the hospital or other institution utilizing the services of the registry might not pay the registry until several months after the work has been done. Profit margins for this type of business go between 4% and 70%.

Nurse staffing is an on-demand business. During holidays, hospitals often pay their staff overtime pay, and thus the need for external staffing services is diminished. An opposite effect is felt during summertime vacations when staff employees at hospitals take time off and the services of the home nursing agency are in greater need.

Nurse staffing is very demanding and requires a high degree of care and responsibility. There are many liability issues that must be kept in mind. Claims of negligence and inappropriate actions by the registry's nurses may result in lawsuits over the bodily injury. Malpractice insurance must be carried by the registry.

As a result of these inherent pitfalls and the progress of web technologies, many nurse staffing agencies evolved to online job boards, which would allow them to match registered nurse candidates with employers' nursing jobs. The web has transformed the nurse staffing industry, making it a more real-time process. Also, by offering direct contact between the candidates and employers, online staffing sites eliminate much of the liability involved in traditional nurse staffing.

By country

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, there are two sources of supplementary nurses - nurse banks and nursing agencies. The former provides nurses paid on as "hours as required" basis and is often contracted to fill planned or unplanned shortfalls in staffing. [1] Agency nurses, on the other hand, are employed through third-party agencies. Recent studies show that it has become common practice in the United Kingdom to use bank and agency nurses to fill vacant shifts in hospitals that cannot be filled by permanent staff. From 2002 to 2003, it was already reported that the National Health Service has spent £628 million on agency nursing. [1] There are sources that cite how nurses employed through agencies tend to enjoy greater rewards and higher pay than those with institutional contracts. [2]

English nursing agencies are regulated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. [3]

United States

In the United States, they are also called nurse registries. It is a staffing agency which may provide per diem or locum tenens nursing personnel to hospitals, medical offices, and individuals. They are generally small, privately owned businesses. They are also known as "nursing pools" and "nursing staffing agencies". A Nursing Registry as defined (for example) in Florida Statutes 400.462: "Nurse registry" means any person that procures, offers, promises, or attempts to secure health-care-related contracts for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, certified nursing assistants, home health aides, companions, or homemakers, who are compensated by fees as independent contractors, including, but not limited to, contracts for the provision of services to patients and contracts to provide private duty or staffing services to health care facilities licensed under chapter 395, this chapter, or chapter 429 or other business entities.[ citation needed ]

The recent expansion of nursing work in America has led to the increased employment of foreign-born nurses, which account for one-third of the growth of the nursing labor market from 2001 to 2008 and 16 percent of the total U.S. nursing workforce by 2008. [4] International recruiting can be costly for hospitals and, to save money, agencies are contracted and paid flat fee for each nurse employed. [4] The bulk of recruited nurses come from the Philippines and Canada.

Singapore

In Singapore, the nursing registry is controlled by Singapore Nursing Board who categorized the nurses into Registered Nurse and Enrolled Nurse.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Registered nurse</span> Nurse who has graduated from a nursing program

A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to obtain a nursing license. An RN's scope of practice is determined by legislation, and is regulated by a professional body or council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home care in the United States</span>

Home care is supportive care provided in the home. Care may be provided by licensed healthcare professionals who provide medical treatment needs or by professional caregivers who provide daily assistance to ensure the activities of daily living (ADLs) are met. In-home medical care is often and more accurately referred to as home health care or formal care. Home health care is different non-medical care, custodial care, or private-duty care which refers to assistance and services provided by persons who are not nurses, doctors, or other licensed medical personnel. For patients recovering from surgery or illness, home care may include rehabilitative therapies. For terminally ill patients, home care may include hospice care.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursing home</span> Type of residential care

A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to indicate whether the institutions are public or private, and whether they provide mostly assisted living, or nursing care and emergency medical care. Nursing homes are used by people who do not need to be in a hospital, but cannot be cared for at home. The nursing home facility nurses have the responsibilities of caring for the patients' medical needs and also the responsibility of being in charge of other employees, depending on their ranks. Most nursing homes have nursing aides and skilled nurses on hand 24 hours a day.

An assisted living residence or assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people with disabilities or for adults who cannot or who choose not to live independently. The term is popular in the United States, but the setting is similar to a retirement home, in the sense that facilities provide a group living environment and typically cater to an older adult population. There is also Caribbean assisted living, which offers a similar service in a resort-like environment.

Permatemp is a U.S. term for a temporary employee who works for an extended period for a single staffing client. The word is a portmanteau of the words permanent and temporary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital</span> Hospital in Perth, Western Australia

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is a teaching hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia.

Home health nursing is a nursing specialty in which nurses provide multidimensional home care to patients of all ages. Home health care is a cost efficient way to deliver quality care in the convenience of the client's home. Home health nurses create care plans to achieve goals based on the client's diagnosis. These plans can include preventive, therapeutic, and rehabilitative actions. Home health nurses also supervise certified nursing assistants. The professional nursing organization for home health nurses is the Home Healthcare Nurses Association (HHNA). Home health care is intended for clients that are well enough to be discharged home, but still require skilled nursing personnel to assess, initiate and oversee nursing interventions.

Agenda for Change (AfC) is the current National Health Service (NHS) grading and pay system for NHS staff, with the exception of doctors, dentists, apprentices and some senior managers. It covers more than 1 million people and harmonises their pay scales and career progression arrangements across traditionally separate pay groups, in the most radical change since the NHS was founded.

Nursing in the United Kingdom has a long history. The current form of nursing is often considered as beginning with Florence Nightingale who pioneered modern nursing. Nightingale initiated formal schools of nursing in the United Kingdom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The role and perception of nursing has dramatically changed from that of a handmaiden to the doctor to professionals in their own right. There are over 500,000 nurses in the United Kingdom and they work in a variety of settings, such as hospitals, health centres, nursing homes, hospices, communities, and academia, with most working for the National Health Service (NHS). Nurses work across all demographics and requirements of the public: adults, children, mental health, and learning disability. Nurses work in a range of specialties from the broad areas of medicine, surgery, theatres, and investigative sciences such as imaging. Nurses also work in large areas of sub-specialities such as respiratory, diabetes, neurology, infectious diseases, liver, research, cardiac, and stoma. Nurses often work in multi-disciplinary teams but increasingly are found working independently.

Private duty nursing is the care of clients by nurses, who may be licensed as RNs or LPNs/LVNs.

Travel nursing is a nursing assignment concept that developed in response to the nursing shortage in the United States in the 1970s. This industry supplies nurses who travel to work in temporary nursing positions, mostly in hospitals. While travel nursing traditionally refers specifically to the nursing profession, it can also be used as a blanket term to refer nursing and allied health professionals, physicians, advanced practice nurses, physician assistants, dentists and other support staff including certified nursing assistants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursing shortage</span> Overview of global nursing shortages

A nursing shortage occurs when the demand for nursing professionals, such as Registered Nurses (RNs), exceeds the supply locally—within a health care facility—nationally or globally. It can be measured, for instance, when the nurse-to-patient ratio, the nurse-to-population ratio, the number of job openings necessitates a higher number of nurses than currently available, or the current number of nurses is above a certain age where retirement becomes an option and plays a factor in staffing making the work force in a higher need of nurses. The nursing shortage is global according to 2022 World Health Organization fact sheet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nursing</span> Health care profession

Nursing is a profession within the healthcare sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other healthcare providers by their approach to patient care, training, and scope of practice. Nurses practice in many specialties with differing levels of prescription authority. Nurses comprise the largest component of most healthcare environments; but there is evidence of international shortages of qualified nurses. Nurses collaborate with other healthcare providers such as physicians, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and psychologists. Unlike nurse practitioners, nurses typically cannot prescribe medications in the US. Nurse practitioners are nurses with a graduate degree in advanced practice nursing. They practice independently in a variety of settings in more than half of the United States. Since the postwar period, nurse education has undergone a process of diversification towards advanced and specialized credentials, and many of the traditional regulations and provider roles are changing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospice care in the United States</span>

In the United States, hospice care is a type and philosophy of end-of-life care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms. These symptoms can be physical, emotional, spiritual or social in nature. The concept of hospice as a place to treat the incurably ill has been evolving since the 11th century. Hospice care was introduced to the United States in the 1970s in response to the work of Cicely Saunders in the United Kingdom. This part of health care has expanded as people face a variety of issues with terminal illness. In the United States, it is distinguished by extensive use of volunteers and a greater emphasis on the patient's psychological needs in coming to terms with dying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health professional requisites</span> Regulations used by countries

Health professional requisites refer to the regulations used by countries to control the quality of health workers practicing in their jurisdictions and to control the size of the health labour market. They include licensure, certification and proof of minimum training for regulated health professions.

Unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) are paraprofessionals who assist individuals with physical disabilities, mental impairments, and other health care needs with their activities of daily living (ADLs). UAPs also provide bedside care—including basic nursing procedures—all under the supervision of a registered nurse, licensed practical nurse or other health care professional. UAPs must demonstrate their ability and competence before gaining any expanded responsibilities in a clinical setting. While providing this care, UAPs offer compassion and patience and are part of the patient's healthcare support system. Communication between UAPs and registered nurses (RNs) is key as they are working together in their patients' best interests. The scope of care UAPs are responsible for is delegated by RNs or other clinical licensed professionals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Healthcare in Belgium</span> Overview of the health care system in Belgium

Healthcare in Belgium is composed of three parts. Firstly there is a primarily publicly funded healthcare and social security service run by the federal government, which organises and regulates healthcare; independent private/public practitioners, university/semi-private hospitals and care institutions. There are a few private hospitals. Secondly is the insurance coverage provided for patients. Finally, industry coverage; which covers the production and distribution of healthcare products for research and development. The primary aspect of this research is done in universities and hospitals.

As of 2017, approximately 1.4 million Americans live in a nursing home, two-thirds of whom rely on Medicaid to pay for their care. Residential nursing facilities receive Medicaid federal funding and approvals through a state health department. These facilities may be overseen by various types of state agency.

The history of nursing in the United Kingdom relates to the development of the profession since the 1850s. The history of nursing itself dates back to ancient history, when the sick were cared for in temples and places of worship. In the early Christian era, nursing in the United Kingdom was undertaken by certain women in the Christian Church, their services being extended to patients in their homes. These women had no real training by today's standards, but experience taught them valuable skills, especially in the use of herbs and folk drugs, and some gained fame as the physicians of their era. Remnants of the religious nature of nurses remains in Britain today, especially with the retention of the job title "Sister" for a senior female nurse.

The SEIU Healthcare 1199NW strike of 2014 was a 24-hour strike called by the Service Employees Union healthcare Local 1199NW. The strike was begun on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 at 7:00 A.M. There were 1,100 workers at two Pierce County hospital operated by CHI Franciscan Health in Tacoma participated in the strike event. The two hospitals are St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and St. Clare Hospital in Lakewood. Nurse assistants, licensed practical nurses, unit secretaries, dietary workers, housekeepers, sterile processors, technical workers and other services of the two hospitals were walked off the job to participate in the strike. The strike did not include nurses and doctors. The union members were demanding CHI Franciscan Health to improve wages, improve on health care, improve on their charity care policy, and end unfair labor practices.

References

  1. 1 2 Brown, Suzanne (2009). "The Role of IT in Facilitating the Centralised Co-ordination of Agency and Bank Nursing within an Acute Hospital". Connecting Health and Humans. Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. Vol. 146. pp. 231–236. doi:10.3233/978-1-60750-024-7-231. ISBN   978-1-60750-443-6. PMID   19592840.
  2. Koff, Sondra Z. (2017). Nursing in the European Union: The World of Work. Routledge. p. 91. ISBN   978-1-351-50260-3.
  3. Cassiani, Silvia Helena De Bortoli; Lecorps, Kimberly; Rojas Cañaveral, Luz Karina; da Silva, Fernando A Menezes; Fitzgerald, James (17 August 2020). "Regulation of nursing practice in the Region of the Americas". Revista Panamericana de Salud Pública. 44: e93. doi:10.26633/RPSP.2020.93. PMC   7429928 . PMID   32821257.
  4. 1 2 Jones, Cheryl; Finkler, Steven A.; Kovner, Christine T. (2012). Financial Management for Nurse Managers and Executives. Elsevier Health Sciences. p. 186. ISBN   978-1-4557-3342-2.