Conexus partnered with a large, not-for-profit, 12 hospital healthcare organization in Kentucky and West Virginia in 2014. We sought to integrate foreign healthcare professionals into its workforce, as well as the wider community, in a cost-effective manner.
Background
The central Appalachian area, consisting of both Kentucky and West Virginia, is one of America’s sickest, poorest regions. Most recently, this economic hardship has been due to the steep decline in coal mining in the area.
According to the Appalachian Regional Commission and other groups, people in the region face significant health complications. Within the region, residents are:
42% more likely to die of heart disease than the rest of the nation.
Face other significant health issues like smoking, drug abuse, and obesity.
Moreover, the Appalachian Region features some of the most financially vulnerable, unstable hospitals in the U.S. This makes treating the Appalachian Region’s most vulnerable populations difficult and challenging.
How Conexus Helped
Conexus Medstaff believes America’s rural hospitals are a lifeline for healthcare recruitment and jobs in small towns. With over 33% (roughly 673 out of over 2,000) at risk of closure, we aim to highlight our solutions to hospital facilities in need.
Employing overseas nurses helped our client overcome financial strains and increase profitability. It also offers stability for patients and, in turn, delivers greater patient satisfaction. That’s because Conexus only sources high-quality foreign nurses. This includes:
Nurses with more than five years’ experience working as RNs, or;
RNs who have been educated in the U.S.
With our dedication to international nurse staffing, the client benefits from passionate and flexible enough to cover a variety of shifts. Plus, with a host of quality nurses keen for a long-term career in the U.S., we aimed to offer staff that wanted to remain.
Delivering Cost-savings and Added Benefits
Before partnering with Conexus, our client hired more than 60 travel nurses for one hospital. Travel nurses helped them fulfill staffing needs quickly but at a significant cost. Such staffing presented a heavy financial burden to the hospitals, one that international nurse recruitment focused on quality improvement could solve.
Conexus Medstaff matched 35 nurses working at the hospital. We also have nurses working there who have become full-time employees of the hospital after completing their assignment with us. In turn, this helped them to reduce the number of travel nurses working in one of their facilities to just 15.
By helping to ensure our candidates were integrated into their new workplace and the local community, staff turnover decreased considerably. Furthermore, the addition of overseas nurses diversified the hospital’s workforce, which multi-cultural patients responded positively to.
Despite having access to little to no public transport links, Conexus came through again. We introduced a shuttle service that enabled nurses to get to work easily. We also helped to promote a car share initiative, and sourced residency close to the hospital.
What Our Client Said
“We have worked with Conexus for the last four years, and they have provided assistance in sending us dozens of candidates. It’s our hope with the programs we have in place and with assistance from outside sources, such as Conexus, that someday all of our RN needs will be met and the shortage of nurses will be long forgotten.”
What we can do
Clients
To find out more about how Conexus MedStaff can help you fulfill your U.S. nurse staffing needs, please complete our Client Contact form. We will be in touch to learn more about your staffing challenges and discuss how we can help you and your healthcare facility staff for the long-term in the U.S.