Sustainability crisis is underway in health care staffing. After years of short-term restoration, hospitals in the United States have awakened the difficult fact that they cannot recruit their own labor force instability.
Burnout and rampant turnover. Clinicians’ revolving doors have been normalized, with hospitals reporting a revenue of up to 30%. Medical organizations facing soaring costs have been overstable among travel clinicians and still have difficulty maintaining adequate staffing.
The fundamental problem is that the system is designed to make it viable. When health systems prioritize initial recruitment over consistency and retention, they repair too short-term while undermining their long-term workforce stability. Not only that, they will also cause significant losses.
According to the 2025 NSI National Health Retention Rate and RN Staffing Report, the average turnover of employee RN is $61,110. This results in an average hospital loss of $3.9 million to $5.7 million per year due to turnover.
Clinicians get off the bus early in the pipeline because they have little background and minimal support. The only way to solve this problem is to create a system that drives long-term retention and workforce stability by supporting the well-being of clinicians.
Why the volume model fails
Large batches of methods can cause churn that affects all parties:
- Clinicians face delays in onboarding, with little support
- Staffing agencies risk trust in customers for infeasible placement
- Insider talent acquisition team wastes time and money
- Healthcare facilities with low productivity and poor patient care
Ironically, in order to stop their turnover by quickly scheduling, healthcare organizations are causing problems they are trying to solve.
Once a contract is signed, the recruitment process is often considered “complete”. That is the fundamental mistake; onboarding is the starting point, and there is never a finishing line.
Even good culturally healthy clinicians may quit due to lack of support. Clinicians are expected to be ready to take care of patients, only to find that they are unable to navigate in the hospital or find the equipment they need.
Location failed stall productivity, wasted weeks of searching and onboarding and getting the same location open. It's tiring for the clinical team, and for the health system, financially poor.
A better model looks like
To increase the long-term success of placement, the focus must shift from quantity to viability. This means emphasizing appropriateness, onboarding and ready-to-be.
Suitable beyond the certificate. It allows for consistency with the team, safety expectations and comfort in the facility. Hasteful placement without considering these variables can lead to poor outcomes and rapid turnover for the patient.
Join Need to be a strategic investment. Too many hospitals see it as an afterthought or checkbox. The key is to clearly define expectations and performance standards before the contract begins. Clinicians should be familiar with their new work environment before they arrive.
Virtual simulations reduce daytime chaos when local restrictions make body stroll challenging. Knowing expectations for their units will speed up their confidence and speed to the bedside.
Clinicians seek meaningful relationships at each stage of the process and the hospital needs their opinions. If hospitals want to increase retention and strengthen patient care, they must strengthen the onboarding process for clinicians.
Meet the rural and medium-sized systems they are in
The labor crisis is often more acute for rural and medium-sized hospitals, which often rely heavily on travel clinicians and international recruitment, but work hard to turn these temporary solutions into lasting workforce stability.
These facilities lack the name recognition, geographical appeal or resources that compete with large health systems. Although many clinicians choose careers based on purpose, it is undeniable that the increase in higher bill rates in coastal markets is undeniable.
Smaller hospitals know that they rarely win in compensation or position, so they have to tell another story. This is where culture, career development and work-life balance become serious factors.
Data can help smaller systems compete through generations, regions and specialties to understand clinician behavior. Sometimes this means highlighting issues that larger systems sometimes flow, such as security ratios and task-driven work.
Build trust using cost plus model
Data is crucial to identify gaps in staffing funnels. Most healthcare systems rely on their own data to indicate whether dropouts occur during school initiation or early placement.
Health systems need a broader lens to understand their talent channels. Workforce partners can provide market insights about competitors, supply shifts and interest rate trends.
The combination of internal analytics, third-party platforms and direct clinician feedback provides a clear organization of data that requires understanding the life cycle of their staffing channels, from initial interests to onboarding and retention.
Data-driven transparency should also be extended to pricing models. The industry's highest billing rate structure masks the real placement cost. The cost plus model will create accountability and help the system make informed spending decisions.
The way forward
Filling roles quickly relieves short-term pressure on health care staffing, but that doesn’t solve the potential crisis. If a stable, reliable nursing team is prioritized, it’s time to reconsider the staffing funnel.
Stop taking onboarding as an end point and focus on transparency and value-based care. Instead of measuring success by being full of shifts, measure the clinician’s experience and retention. The ultimate goal is to build a stronger team and environment to support patients and caregivers.
Photos: Illustrations, Getty Images
Buffy Stultz White is the CEO of Phhi, a healthcare professional who is committed to changing how hospitals and clinicians work together. She assumes leadership challenges outdated models that prioritize profits over people and treat clinicians as interchangeable. At PHHI, Buffy focuses on building lasting partnerships with hospitals while ensuring clinicians are successful, respected and supported for success. She advocates sustainable staffing strategies that value clinician welfare and hospital performance.
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