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New app aims to relieve nursing shortage
Catherine Hawley reports
TAMPA, Fla. - There is a critical need for nurses in the Sunshine State. Projections show Florida will face a shortage of more than 59,000 RNs and LPNs by 2035, but a Tampa Bay area company is using technology to help fill those staffing gaps.
Gale Healthcare Solutions is putting work in the palm of your hand. The smartphone app connects nurses with open shifts at local healthcare facilities in seconds.
"And we've got almost 53,000 nurses using our technology in 38 states every day," said Gale Healthcare Founder and President Tony Braswell.
He said the Gale platform better utilizes qualified nursing professionals and is helping to mitigate the national nursing shortage by filling the openings at facilities.
"We've seen a problem now in the health care, in the staffing of nurses, in facilities, hospitals, nursing homes, and we're trying to solve that one nurse at a time," Braswell said.
Everything is done through the app, finding open shifts, accepting the work, even being paid that same day. The on-demand model gives healthcare workers autonomy.
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"It gives me the opportunity to have flexibility, to choose the facilities that I want to work in, and to work around my schedule," explained St. Petersburg nurse Brenda Handy. "And allow me the ability to, one, be with my family, two, go back to school. And it's my choice."
Braswell said many of the healthcare workers using the technology have full-time jobs or are going to school. They use the app to pick up shifts on their terms.
"It's a game changer for the nurse," Braswell said. "It gives the nurse control."
The agency was recently named one of the fastest growing companies in the Tampa Bay area, and also made the Inc. 5000 list of America’s fastest-growing companies.
"We're always adding more nurses every day. Our goal is to add 200,000 more nurses next 24 months. Which we can do through technology," said Braswell.
The company empowers nurses with control of their schedules, same-day pay, and direct access to open shifts at facilities they are cleared to work at.