With healthcare facilities aiming to address staffing gaps, it’s safe to say locum tenens providers have become an integral component to many medical teams. However, creating an environment that effectively immerses locum tenens providers requires proactive culture-building on behalf of a facility’s leadership team. Here are some steps for how your healthcare organization can create a more inclusive culture for locum tenens providers.
How to Build a Welcoming Culture for Locum Tenens Providers
Establish a Formal Onboarding Process
As you add locum tenens clinicians to your organization, it’s essential to equip your new providers with the knowledge and tools they need to be successful within their roles. A formal onboarding process is critical to ensuring locum tenens providers understand your facility’s practices and protocols. Most importantly, to make sure they feel comfortable working with your full-time staff to provide top-quality patient care. Onboarding also allows locum tenens providers to ask questions and receive preliminary guidance from managers before their assignments get underway.
Promote a Collaborative Culture
At the heart of a truly inclusive organization is a workplace culture in which every person feels connected with a core mission and values. Taking steps to promote collaboration and camaraderie will bring both your permanent staff and locum tenens providers together as they work to meet shared goals. Your leadership team can foster collaboration through various initiatives, such as social gatherings, staff-wide training and development, and mentorship programs.
Gather Feedback
As locum tenens providers complete their assignments and exit your organization, gathering feedback directly from them about their experience at your facility can be extremely eye-opening. Whether it’s in group meetings or one-on-one exit interviews with management, generating feedback can be insightful for creating meaningful changes in the future. With providers’ feedback, a plan can be formulated that addresses viable concerns to improve the experience for your locum tenens physicians.
Locum tenens providers can be a significant asset to any healthcare organization, especially when staffing shortages occur. By investing in your locum tenens workforce with the practices above, your facility will successfully attract and retain locum tenens talent while supporting full-time staff.
Looking for the right locum tenens staffing partner? Contact MPLT Healthcare to learn how our physician recruiting team can assist with your locum tenens coverage needs.
