Each year, the problem of nurse burnout remains a persistent challenge that affects healthcare facilities worldwide. In fact, a 2025 survey involving 2,600 nurses found that 65% of participants are still experiencing increased stress and burnout levels in 2025, with short staffing as one of the top reasons for stress and burnout.
When nurses experience burnout, patient care levels are often compromised. Fatigued nurses may be more likely to make medical mistakes and deliver lower-quality care. Hence, it’s in the best interest of healthcare organizations to address nurse burnout, not just to ensure that their employees are healthy, safe, and happy at work, but to keep patient care levels consistently high at all times.
One promising solution to addressing this global concern is flexible staffing, which involves workforce models that address fluctuating needs, including high patient demands, via temporary, per diem, and contract nurses. In this article, we highlight the reasons why flexible staffing is an important tool in addressing nurse burnout.
How flexible staffing improves nurse well-being
Flexible staffing is vital in ensuring that nurses find a good balance between managing their professional responsibilities and their personal goals and well-being. The following are reasons why healthcare organizations that adopt flexible staffing strategies reduce nurse burnout and foster well-being.
It allows nurses to prioritize their needs and preferences
When nurses are given the freedom to choose their work schedules and shift preferences, they are more likely to have more time for other important aspects of their lives, such as spending time with their families or pursuing hobbies and different passions. Nurses who have a certain level of control over their schedules are less likely to leave their jobs. A 2015 study of acute-care hospitals across Europe found that nurses who felt they had significant control over their work schedules were more likely to stay in their jobs until retirement.
Health systems composed of multiple hospitals and healthcare facilities have the capability of providing scheduling flexibility to their nurses. For example, Mercy Health, one of the largest health systems in the US, found that after giving its nurses the flexibility to choose their hours and work locations, their staffing improved by 20% with a fill rate of 94% in just two years.
Although not all hospitals are part of health systems, they can still adopt flexible scheduling strategies by working with reliable healthcare staffing agencies. Doing so can allow independent healthcare organizations to have access to highly qualified healthcare professionals who can help with fluctuating patient volumes, fill in for healthcare workers on much-needed vacation breaks, and provide consistent workload relief to full-time employees.
It reduces overtime-related burdens and costs
The nature of healthcare work is physically and mentally demanding, and asking healthcare professionals to work for more hours than their already lengthy shifts can quickly lower morale and negatively affect productivity. According to a 2025 study, healthcare workers who have to do overtime work are more irritable, anxious, have cardiovascular issues, and even sleep-related challenges.
Nurses who work overtime are also at an increased risk of injuries and accidents. When healthcare professionals are fatigued, sleep-deprived, and working long hours, concentrating on their responsibilities and making important decisions becomes much more difficult. Overtime work can also lead to more nurses quitting at higher rates. According to research conducted in 2023, healthcare facilities that ask their nurses to perform involuntary overtime work are more likely to experience higher nurse turnover rates.
To protect the health and safety of both healthcare workers and patients, healthcare organizations can partner with healthcare staffing agencies to relieve permanent staff before burnout ensues.
At Oculus Health, we support healthcare facilities by providing skilled and compassionate healthcare professionals who perfectly match their organizations’ unique needs. Our pool of nurses and allied health professionals, such as CNAs, GNAs, LPNs, LVNs, PTs, PTAs, OTs, COTAs, and SLPs, allows our partner facilities to obtain the workforce they need to keep patient care outcomes at optimal levels. Learn more about our staffing solutions here.
