A St. Louis County hospital has been piloting a program in which staff and freelance nurses alike can sign up for work shifts through an online application, according to media reports, and the process is expanding.
Mercy Hospital announced this week that the app, Mercy Works on Demand, is live in Missouri and three other states, including Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
“Many staff members work long but varying shifts,” said Dave Dillon, spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association (MHA). “For those who want to work more, tools like the one offered by Mercy can help expedite how to find additional hours and sign up.”
It has been widely reported that since the pandemic, there has been a rise in hospitals nationwide that depend on contractors and travel nurses who work short-term.
“Hospitals are using all the tools in the tool chest to continue to staff their organizations,” Dillon told the St. Louis Record.
Traveling nurse jobs offer more pay and flexibility, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“As with other ‘gig economy’ work, individuals can schedule time around what’s going on in their lives,” Dillon added. “Flexibility is reflective of the workforce of the future — in health care, and everywhere.”
As previously reported in the St. Louis Record, lawmakers approved a state budget on May 13 that allocated $7 million to help train more nurses.
“The pandemic has led to burnout in the healthcare industry,” said Kara Corches, vice president of governmental affairs with the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “We need more healthcare workers.”
Statewide, there are 33,692 staff registered nurses working in hospitals and 8,334 positions are listed as vacant, according to the Missouri Hospital Associations 2022 Workforce Report.
"The pandemic was highly disruptive to the hospital workforce,” said Jon D. Doolittle, president, and CEO of the MHA. “As we exited 2021, the indications of a full-blown crisis in hospital staffing were emerging. Each hospital's strategy will require a mix of approaches — from changes in culture and the care team to innovative approaches for recruiting and retention."