With many children across the country going back to school this month, parents know that transitioning into the school routine can be difficult for children. From changing schools to making new friends, children can experience anxiety about going to class, especially at the beginning of the year.

Good news for nurses: Specialty nurses are earning more money than some doctors early in their careers, while also incurring less student loan debt.

In a strong display of continued economic growth, the July Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Report revealed that U.S. employers hired 209,000 workers during the month of July, surpassing most economists’ expectations. Healthcare once again lead the way in job creation, accounting for 19% of the new jobs added last month. The majority of the healthcare jobs added in July were within the ambulatory care setting (30,000), while hospitals contributed 7,300 jobs. As a whole the healthcare industry has grown by an average of 35K jobs per month during 2017.   

The single overriding mission of every health care provider is to ensure the best possible patient care. Achieving this mission requires finding the right people for the right place at the right time to provide this care. Today, this can be a challenge, given the high rate of health care job growth and the scarcity of specialty skills—especially in nursing. Many chief nursing officers (CNOs) are struggling just to fill core vacancies.

To improve care quality, more and more CNOs are retaining a managed services provider (MSP) to ensure adequate labor resources. As a CNO, how do you establish a true partnership with your MSP that ensures you get highly qualified, appropriately credentialed professionals?

Amanda Moss, MSN, RN is a regional education manager for our StaRN program. A registered nurse for more than a decade, Amanda is inspiring new nurses in our Las Vegas market.

StaRN is designed to bridge the skills gap between new and experienced nurses through specialized training. In her role, Amanda is responsible for mentoring and educating newly-licensed nurses through skills training, simulation instruction, and other hands-on activities to prepare the nurses to work in specialized hospital units.

“I love my job,” says Amanda, who began her StaRN career as a clinical instructor. “And I get to teach about my passion.”

Our StaRN program educates thousands of newly-licensed nurses every year using specialized training that bridges the skills gap between new and experienced nurses. After graduating from StaRN, these nursing “rookies” put their hands-on training to the test at HCA facilities around the country.

“StaRN to me was really the perfect stepping stone from graduating school to stepping into the real world of nursing,” says Matthew Rickmon, HCA’s 2016 Rookie Nurse of the Year winner for the Southwest Virginia market. “It truly was that intermediate level that helped prepare me for what was to come.”

The U.S. economy added 222,000 jobs in the month of June, with the healthcare industry accounting for 16% of the growth. This was the largest job growth seen in the past four months. Of the 36,500 healthcare jobs added last month, nearly three-quarters (26,000) were within the ambulatory care setting. Jobs in the acute care setting grew by  11,700 in June. As an industry, healthcare has contributed 24,000 jobs on average per month in 2017.

St. Luke’s University Health Network, a 972-bed nonprofit health system in Pennsylvania, faced two increasingly persistent challenges. One was economic, as the health system faced continuing pressure on margins because of rising costs and diminishing payments and reimbursements. The other was meeting its staffing goals in an increasingly tight healthcare labor market.

Together, both challenges provided the impetus to look at whether St. Luke’s was deploying staff in the most optimal way for the health of the organization and its patients.

Located in “The Heart of Dixie,” the Brookwood Baptist Health system in greater Birmingham offers the largest network of healthcare facilities in Central Alabama. Comprised of five hospitals and dozens of specialty centers, Brookwood Baptist Health is part of the HCA family, of which HealthTrust Workforce Solutions is an affiliate.

Three of its facilities in particular – Brookwood Baptist Medical Center, Princeton Baptist Medical Center, and Shelby Baptist Medical Center – offer a wide array of opportunities for healthcare professionals, especially those interested in Brain and Neurological Services, Cancer Services, Maternity and Women’s Health Services, ER Services, Orthopedic Surgeries, and more.

Marilyn Reed, RN is our HealthTrust Hero Clinician! A military veteran as well as a nurse, Marilyn proves that compassion does not go unnoticed.

Marilyn earned her nomination when caring for a homeless patient at JFK Medical Center - North Campus in Florida. The patient had been at the facility for several weeks and was preparing for discharge. Noticing that his clothes had seen better days, Marilyn went out on her lunch break to purchase clothes, shoes, a box of chocolates, and an encouragement card for the man using her own money.