Research Studies Demonstrate that Nurse Burn-Out and Turnover Significantly Impacts Quality of Care

Arena Analytics offers a solution

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Sep 15, 2020, 09:10 ET

BALTIMORE, Sept. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit this continent, healthcare workers across the U.S. were struggling with stressful, exhausting, and untenable conditions. Whether as a result of increasing administrative demands as a result of changing insurance requirements, increasing acuity of walk-in patients, or the shortages of skilled nurses and medical professionals pushing staff into longer shifts and over-time – healthcare workers at hospitals and post-acute/long-term care communities have long had among the toughest jobs in America. And, as recent events have revealed, these jobs have only gotten harder.

Healthcare Worker Turnover Impacts Qualify of Care

Arena Analytics recently examined a wide range of peer-reviewed journals for research related to these workforce issues and the impact on quality of care. The results raise questions for our society to consider – what can we do to ensure that those we rely upon to care for us, are being supported in this essential, important work?

"Researchers consistently found significant correlations between decreased quality of patient care and staff struggling with burn-out and 'new hire' turnover," says Myra Norton, Arena's President & COO. "We knew this from the experiences of our partner healthcare employer organizations, but researchers across the country have aggregated abundant evidence that the impact is real and widespread."

As one example, data collected from 268 nursing units at over 100 hospitals found that "instability in the nursing workforce implies adverse impacts on the continuity and quality of patient care." They found that low levels of turnover were associated with fewer patient falls and fewer medication errors. The authors recommended that nursing unit turnover be managed within appropriate levels as a critical step in delivering high–quality patient care. ¹

In one of the largest studies on this topic, involving over 95,000 registered nurses taking the Multi-State Nursing Care and Patient Safety survey, high levels of burnout and job dissatisfaction among hospital nurses were associated with lower patient satisfaction, which signals problems with quality of care.

Michael Rosenbaum, Arena's Founder and CEO, sees multiple means of addressing the conditions which give rise to worker burn-out, fatigue, and dis-engagement. But once multiple operational processes are in place, the most effective way to bring these changes to bear at scale requires making changes at the source – by implementing a data-informed, bias-free process of optimizing the hiring of people who will work well within existing teams and remain committed to the organization's mission.

"We help organizations move away from guesswork and unconscious hiring biases to a more objective approach informed by data, advanced analytics, and machine learning. We're excited to provide value to mission-driven, people-centered organizations who share our vision of hiring for outcomes, and matching people to meaningful careers."

Across the 1,100 healthcare facilities implementing Arena's technology, all have experienced reduced 'new hire' turnover rates, averaging a 21% reduction within 12 months of deployment.

About Arena (https://www.arena.io/) applies predictive analytics and machine learning to solve talent acquisition challenges. Learning algorithms analyze a large amount of data to predict with high levels of accuracy the likelihood of different outcomes occurring, such as someone leaving, being engaged, having excellent attendance, and more. By revealing each individual's likely outcomes in specific positions, departments, and locations, Arena is transforming the labor market from one based on perception and unconscious bias, to one based on outcomes. Arena is currently growing dramatically within the healthcare industry and expanding its offerings to other people-intensive industries. For more information contact info@arena.io

SOURCE Arena