The Importance of Health and Wellness Programs for Employees

November 29th, 2013

It’s the time of year when people begin to think about getting into better shape and improving their overall health. Maybe it’s been a long year of illness and injury, or you’re just tired of feeling tired and lacking confidence. If your employees are expressing a desire to improve their health, as their employer, what can you do to help? This time of the year can be a great season to evaluate your employee health and wellness program to ensure it is meeting the needs of your staff. If you have a wellness plan, consider what you can do to improve it and even ask those who take advantage of it what they would like to see in the program. You may be promoting a feature that no one in your organization needs or wants; save your money and resources by utilizing only certain health and wellness features.

Is it Time to Start a Health and Wellness Program?

Regardless of any desire expressed by your employees, helping them achieve a healthy lifestyle is a gift you can give to them. If you don’t know where to start, begin by thinking as an employee and implement the ideas. Here are some to get you started:

  1. Keep a well-stocked break room. Healthy snacks don’t have to be expensive. Buying the items in bulk can save money as well as provide wellness. Things like bottled water, baked chips and pretzels, mixed nuts, and even fruit can be bought for a reasonable price. Employees will perform better when they are happy and healthy. Physical issues like dehydration, hunger, and sugar spikes can wreak havoc on your productivity in its own way.
  2. Allow employees to work standing up at their desks or create breaks for the various teams. You can’t have the entire team on a break but encouraging each member to stand up, walk around, even get some fresh air will go far for their mental clarity and overall health.
  3. Promote exercise or at least breaks throughout the day. From a Ping-Pong table to darts, this is one area that can be fun and inexpensive. Simple games lend the ability for team growth in a short amount of time. Think about how encouraging it would be for a team to play a quick game while brainstorming or they can talk a walk while coming up with the next big thing.

As the person in charge of the company, you are responsible for what happens on the inside. It is up to you to help promote health and wellness. In other words, if you want healthy, happy employees, you can make it happen with a positive attitude and allowance for things that help improve your employees. That will, in turn, increase productivity and your business will thrive.

If you want more information about how to implement a wellness program or to work in a facility with a top-notch program, contact the professionals at Pinnacle Workforce. Not only can you be healthier, you can achieve your personal and career goals.

Considering Travel Nursing? Review These Statistics

November 22nd, 2013

Nursing isn’t the first profession you think of as one that allows for travel. When you think of nursing, you probably think about being in a medical facility all day; while you may have flexible schedule, it’s not exactly one that provides freedom outside of the center. If you want to travel and enjoy caring for patients in their home or other facilities, it may be time to consider a career change; traveling nurses can not only deliver excellent care but will have the opportunity to see the city or state in which they live. Because traveling nurses are necessary to their patients, the demand is high and the salaries are one of the perks of this career.

Reasons Nurses Travel
Nurses are adept at making choices on a daily basis, choices such as how to deal with emergencies, how to work with difficult patients, and even how to break bad news to families. A nurse may not always have the ability to change their pay, once they decide to practice in a certain health facility but what if you did? Would you choose location over pay, freedom over steady salary? What if you didn’t have to? What if you could live in your dream location and also be paid for your skills? This is one of the reasons nurses are jumping into the opportunity of becoming a traveling nurse.

Adventure ranks as the top reason to start a career in travel nursing as 38% of those surveyed stated that was their main reason for deciding to work in this capacity. Money was the second choice at 28%. Many of the jobs taken are based on contract opportunities and it is usually a high demand, high need area. The incentives are there for the travel nursing professionals and many take advantage of it in hopes of looking for an exciting change, more money, and the chance to work with others who need their expertise.

A Career Outside of the Box
As a nurse, you may feel that you miss out on seeing your family or friends over the holidays but for a traveling nurse, you could take a special assignment to be near your family around certain times of the year. By embarking on a career that takes you outside of buildings, affiliated centers, 25% of travel nurses were able to take on a contract to be near their family. In many situations, the job includes room and board; in fact, a travel nursing job can include an hourly rate, housing and travel expenses, and even tax benefits. What are you waiting for? Not only can you take on a stimulating job change but increase your salary and skills by learning from others in your field that may be in a different area of the country or world.

If you are looking for a career in travel nursing, contact Pinnacle Workforce today. We have a wide variety of options for your nursing career, as well as opportunities for you to try this career change.

The Benefit of Partnering with a Healthcare Specific Employment Organization

November 15th, 2013

Staffing companies are able to procure some of the best talent on the market today. Whether it is for trade jobs, management positions, technical contracts, or even healthcare facilities, employment agencies work to continuously produce results for their clients. Are some agencies more adept at finding certain types of candidates or are they all the same?

Specific Industry Related Experience
There is a big difference between candidates for a tech company and those for a hospital or medical facility. While both require specific training and skills, one candidate will be a stronger match for that position than another. An employment organization will be in greater demand if they specialize in a specific market such as tech or healthcare for the following reasons:

  1. The recruiters will know the right keywords to listen for in an interview to save time and money for the client. The can place the right candidate based on their own knowledge and their history of working in that field. When talking to a candidate in the beginning stages, an industry recruiter can gage right from the start if they know what they are talking about and actually have the abilities required.
  2. They will have a larger network from which to draw specific talent. In the healthcare field, they can pull the exact talent from their network such as a traveling nurse, pediatric office assistant, or a medical coder. Healthcare jobs require a unique skill set and when your agency finds candidates to match the skills, they can be placed within a new position. These healthcare professionals usually have friends and acquaintances in their network with similar skills that can be a referral at a later date.
  3. The agency will have an excessive screened candidate pool. Because healthcare is a crucial part of society, candidates can’t be just any person off the street, they must be thoroughly screened in order ensure they hold the skills, experience, and reliability demanded by the healthcare clients.

Choosing the Right Employment Organization
The right team member can make or break your facility. If you blindly find potential candidates, the results could ruin your team. Utilize the services of an employment agency that specializes in healthcare placement and get the talent you need, when you need it. Your facility will need replacements on a regular basis and the right staffing agency can give you the talent you need on short notice.

If you are unsure about the risks of hiring a candidate from an agency, rest assured that Pinnacle Workforce offers a carefully screened candidate, backed by a 90 day guarantee so your candidate choices can be made with confidence. The innovative healthcare staffing options provided by Pinnacle Workforce can keep your facility, large or small, running smoothly. Have additional questions? Contact us today to see how a partnership with Pinnacle Workforce can benefit your organization.

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