Working Hard to Recruit the People We Need

I have participated in new employee orientation since I arrived in 2010. My job is to welcome our new teammates and introduce them to who we are and the GBMC vision for the future. On Monday of this week, I welcomed more than 100 new employees! We all know the story of how people have left the workforce since the pandemic started. In addition, the U.S. has a significant shortage of nurses that has been made worse by the pandemic. 

We have all been under stress since the pandemic began, and our Human Resources Department has been working very hard to fill all of our vacancies. I asked Anna-Maria Palmer, our Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, to give readers of the blog an update on what we are doing to keep up with our very high turnover and vacancy rate.  

Q:  In your words, how has the current wave of the pandemic changed the GBMC workplace?
We are fortunate that GBMC’s incident command structure and our well-defined critical work systems have enabled us to take hold of the current wave of the pandemic. Our Baldrige work has paid off because we can easily adjust processes to accommodate this new pandemic wave.

A key reason we can adapt our processes to support increased patient care needs is because our workforce embraces our vision statement. Our employees are resilient and dedicated. I see this daily as employees volunteer to pick up extra shifts, so they can help departments with staff absences due to the pandemic. I also see employees who are now working in an alternative work assignment through our Alternative Labor Pool. In addition, our workforce is supporting each other by nominating peers for Peer-to-Peer recognition and Compassionate Caregiver and Art of Nursing awards. 

Q: What's behind the current shortage, and do you have any incentives or initiatives to shore up staffing levels?
As a nation, we are experiencing a nursing shortage, and this is amplified by the current wave of the pandemic. Also, the economic rebound underway in the U.S. has resulted in increased work-from-home jobs. This can be a barrier as we need to attract the people needed for in-person patient care. To combat this, Human Resources is in a continual mode of market surveillance to ensure we are keeping pace with both wages and benefits. We implemented several nursing wage adjustments to include revised premium rates and shift differentials. Furthermore, we have implemented significant referral bonuses for key roles at Gilchrist, GBMC Health Partners and GBMC hospital. We are doing this to incentivize our employees to help us hire new staff.  

Due to critical staffing shortages in clinical areas, the hospital (GBMC HealthPartners and Gilchrist each have their own) has instituted an alternative labor pool. As part of the alternative labor pool, staff will be assigned into clinical patient care roles, given nurse helper duties, or assist in other areas to support hospital operations (pharmacy and distribution). Managers are encouraged to call 443-849-6619 or email alp@gbmc.org to identify their staffing needs. Any employees who meet the outlined criteria in the Alternative Labor Pool program overview document, who are interested in taking a patient care assignment or taking a supportive role can complete the availability form via the following link. 

Q: Is there any bottom line message you want to get out there to folks who may have started to look into a career in healthcare and GBMC?
Healthcare careers have never been as needed or as appreciated as they are today. As a society, we have learned much about the science of healthcare in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Specifically, at GBMC, we are fortunate to have science experts and clinical leadership who have guided us to deliver quality patient care. If you are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare where you can experience career satisfaction and have a positive impact on our community, then please apply to GBMC HealthCare. As an independent community healthcare system with a participative employee culture, GBMC HealthCare is unique from other healthcare employers. Visit here to search job opportunities and apply today.

Q: What do you think it means to employees when they receive support from the community?
GBMC is fortunate that our community partners provide both emotional support and financial support to our workforce. Many messages of patient gratitude are displayed throughout our hospital as a reminder to our employees that our work is making a positive impact in the community. Our patients and patient families are thanking us and inspiring us to continue this great work. This gratitude helps to fuel our employees during the most difficult of times. Also, this same community stepped forward to provide monetary contributions to our Healthcare Worker’s Fund. This fund has enabled us to provide a financial safety net for our employees experiencing financial hardship during the pandemic, as well as provide for increased employee recognition through our Peer-to-Peer recognition program and added resilience programming such as yoga and massages. Our community’s high engagement with our GBMC mission is an important contributor to employee satisfaction. 

I want to thank Anna Maria and her staff for everything they do to recruit the people we need!

Thank You!!
Earlier this week, The Church of the Good Shepperd donated more than 100 meals for both the adult and pediatric Emergency Department day and evening shifts. This was truly amazing, and I know our people greatly appreciated the gift.

I am so grateful to our patients and the communities we serve for their unwavering support and commitment to GBMC. Whether it is providing food to our frontline workers, offering thanks and prayers for our team members, or acting in other ways, big and small, to show their gratitude and their care for our people, it is really inspiring. Thank you!