The Patient

Virginia Hospital Center, Arlington, Virginia
(Engagement dates: January 1, 2003 – present)

In 2003, Virginia Hospital Center (VHC) was a 334-bed community hospital that had a nurse vacancy rate of 28% in 2003. (That’s a big gap – the nationwide average for vacancy is approximately 11-16%, depending on the region.) They were in the middle of building a new hospital that was going to produce a 60% increase in bed capacity for the emergency department (ED), and a 30% increase in bed capacity for the intensive care unit (ICU). They needed high-volume recruitment to become more fully staffed in both the ED and ICU and to be ready when the new hospital opened in 2005.

After an initial consultation, RSI experts determined that VHC had a nurse recruitment program in place that was underpowered. Specifically, they followed a more passive order of business and lacked an active, outcome-driven, urgent, and responsive process. The RSI staff decided that the best course of action would be to make significant reductions in the nurse vacancy rate in the first year while shortening the turnaround time for the application process.

RSI consultants first took a look at overall and unit-specific vacancy rates, critical needs, barriers to recruitment, tracking methods and onboarding processes specific to Virginia Hospital Center. Among the problems they found were significant delays in the application process. After further analysis, RSI decided to establish a permanent team of specially trained nurse recruiters, through the company’s OnSite service, who would follow the RSI Rapid Hire model and be focused exclusively on recruitment. This move would free VHC officials to focus their efforts on other issues. Finally, RSI designed and implemented a custom, permanent recruitment plan that would target and eliminate VHC’s specific critical nurse vacancy issues.

As a result of implementing RSI’s recommended OnSite recruitment program, VHC was able to reduce its RN vacancy rate from 28% to 10% in the first year, and from 10% to 4% in the second year. And, as a result of RSI’s OnSite Nurse Recruitment model, turnaround time also dropped, from 28 days to 10 days, and VHC staff have exceeded recruitment goals each year since 2003.

Additionally, by continuing with the RSI OnSite team, after the initial 13-month contract, VHC staff have been able to focus on objectives other than recruitment. For instance, they have begun the application process for Magnet status, which will allow them to attract nurses who are better trained and seek professionalism in the workplace. Also, RSI has become directly involved with the hospital’s leadership to develop initiatives and strategies designed to continue to shorten turnaround time (implementation of the RSI Rapid Hire model), improve onboarding time, and reduce turnover.

The RSI Difference

As a result of its ongoing relationship with RSI, VHC has been able to maintain low RN vacancy rates, compared to competitors in the area, and fill positions quickly.  Leadership at VHC is able to focus on initiatives other than recruitment, as a result of the continued focus and results-oriented commitment of the RSI team.