The current healthcare landscape is adding pressure to facilities when it comes to balancing patient care with limited financial resources. Between fluctuating census levels, burnout, and growing operational costs, maintaining the best staffing levels can be challenging.
That’s where strategic PRN staffing can step in. By leveraging flexible, on-demand healthcare professionals, Nebraska’s hospitals, long-term care communities, and clinics can control their labor costs without compromising on care.
In this guide, I’ll show you how PRN staffing can help stretch your budget, without cutting out quality.
Table of Contents
Understanding the costs of staffing shortages in Nebraska
Staffing challenges don’t just affect your team–they hit your bottom line.
When your facility is understaffed, overtime hours pile up quickly, which leads to going over budget and exhausting employees. This can escalate in Nebraska, where rural hospitals and regional facilities often operate with fewer staff. Fast.
Lower patient satisfaction, longer wait times, and increased risk of noncompliance are all things facilities risk when they’re understaffed.
On top of that, traditional recruitment is expensive. The time and money spent on sourcing, interviewing, onboarding, and training full-time staff add up, especially if turnover is high.
Relying solely on permanent staff limits your ability to adjust to seasonal demand or unexpected spikes in patient volume.
How PRN Staffing Optimizes Your Budget
Prn staffing is one of the most effective ways to manage your workforce and your costs.
- Reduced hiring costs: Partnering with a healthcare staffing agency like Cascade Health Services means you skip the recruitment and onboarding costs. We handle all of the credentialing, background checks, and payroll, which saves you time and money.
- Scalability to Match Demand: Flu season in Omaha? A surge in volume in Lincoln? PRN staffing lets you scale your team to meet demands without hiring new staff.
- Access to Specialized Roles: Since PRN staffing agencies help across healthcare settings, you’ll have access to specialized nurses. Now, you can fill those roles as needed–no long-term commitment is required.
Strategies for Effective PRN Staffing Management
To get the most out of your per diem agency, it’s important to plan ahead. Here are some tips on how you can manage staffing agencies effectively:
- Forecast your open shifts: As soon as your schedule is made, identify any gaps and send them to your agency partner. This allows them to begin filling your shifts sooner, increasing the chances that a nurse will be available for your facility.
- Streamline scheduling & communication: Use technology to your advantage. Cascade has a portal that allows you to send your open shifts to all of your agency partners, check the credentials of PRN staff, and export Payroll Based Jornal (PBJ) reports.
- Choose the right partner: Not all agencies are created equal. Cascade Health Services offers transparent billing, competitive rates, high-quality W-2 staff, and credentialed healthcare professionals across Nebraska.
The Cascade Health Services Advantage in Nebraska
We specialize in helping Nebraska facilities stretch their budgets with flexible, PRN staffing solutions that work. Whether you operate in Lincoln, Omaha, Grand Island, or a rural community, we have the local expertise and talent to support you.
- Experienced Professionals, Ready When You Need Them
Our PRN nurses, CNAs, and allied health professionals are vetted, credentialed, and ready to step in when your facility needs support. - Transparent Billing. Competitive Rates. No Surprises.
You’ll always know what you’re paying for—and how much you’re saving. - Tailored Support for Nebraska Facilities
We understand the staffing challenges unique to Nebraska, from rural access issues to seasonal demands. We’re here to help you navigate them.
Maximize Your Budget Without Compromising Care
Strategic PRN staffing isn’t just about filling holes in the schedule—it’s about building a sustainable, cost-effective staffing model that supports both your team and your patients.
At Cascade Health Services, we help Nebraska healthcare facilities do exactly that. Ready to take the pressure off your full-time staff and your bottom line? See how we helped a critical access hospital in Kansas during census spikes and nursing shortages.
