“Burnout suggests that the problem resides within the individual, who is in some way deficient. It implies that the individual lacks the resources or resilience to withstand the work environment.” – Dr. Wendy Dean, Co-founder at Moral Injury of Healthcare
Everyone faces burnout, even the Healthcare Professionals. And the ongoing pandemic has further highlighted the issue for the individuals to understand and experience.
Healthcare Professionals have strong moral compasses. They are resourceful, resilient, and passionate about caring for others. They sacrifice time with their family, time for themselves, and even their health. Right now, 60% of Healthcare Professionals say they are facing burnout.
Unfortunately, it gets worse. When HCP are unable to follow their moral compass due to constraints outside of their control, they suffer ‘Moral Injury’.
While many have been appreciating the efforts and sacrifices of healthcare professionals especially during the pandemic, very few could empathize. However, CEO Jamal Mahijibhai not only had to face burnout during his working as a registered nurse but he decided to aid his fellow healthcare professionals to cure moral injury through his organization, MSG Staffing.
Since its inception in 2005, MSG Staffing has been helping healthcare professionals and clients to connect for per-diem assignments, long-term assignments, direct hire for facilities, and private pay care 24/7 for homecare.
“We offer a cure for Moral Injury by effectively filling the staffing shortages that cause it. And we cure by providing the right flexible opportunities, so HCPs do not have to sacrifice one to get the other,” Jamal explains.
“If that doesn’t impact the global healthcare industry, I don’t know what will,” he further says.
Read the following interview to know how Jamal’s personal experience as a registered nurse led him to bring change in the healthcare sector through MSG Staffing.
Brief our audience about MSG Staffing, its values, vision, and mission.
MSG Staffing’s mission is to improve lives, one assignment at a time. We do that by giving reliable Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) access to opportunities they’ll enjoy. We’ve transformed the job-hunting process into a simple, fun, and result-focused that brings fulfillment to people’s lives.
This ensures patients receive outstanding care, our clients receive the help they require, and our HCPs succeed both professionally and financially.
Our vision is to dominate the local staffing market with reliable HCPs. I want MSG Staffing to impact tens of thousands of HCPs, so they can impact thousands of facilities and hundreds of thousands if not millions of patients. One local market at a time.
Brief us about how you have set yourself apart from the competition through your expertise in healthcare staffing?
It’s the people we hire, and how we train and develop them according to our values, systems, and processes that sets us apart from the competition. We built MSG Staffing to bring fulfillment to people’s lives, through a team that takes care and support seriously.
Sadly, there is a lot of HCP turn-over in our industry. Our business significantly minimizes this turnover because we gain deep insight into our client’s needs, wants, and desires. We then analyze that information using our innovative process to predict the outcome. If a poor outcome is predicted, we don’t proceed. Otherwise, we engage decisively, and we don’t stop until the promise made is delivered. This is how we win, one assignment at a time.
Some staffing companies see a placement as their finish line, but for us, that’s more of a starting point. We increase communication and solicit feedback from HCPs and client facilities after a successful placement.
This allows us to plan for back-to-back opportunities while maintaining our focus on one assignment at a time.
Brief us about your journey in the healthcare industry.
I started my healthcare career as a laundry attendant. From there I became a residential counselor, nurse aide, and finally a registered nurse. I wanted to work while I was in school so I could pay my bills, but I also had to provide exceptional care to my patients. Providing exceptional care was a core value.
There were times when unreliable coworkers would bail on their shifts, slack off at work, or neglect to provide care at my standard (which I assumed we all shared).
It’s amazing how powerful the impact a few can have on the many. Call-outs made it very difficult for me to give patients more than a minimum level of care.
I had a choice; I could either work hours that fit my schedule knowing there wasn’t enough staff to properly support all the patients, or I could work inconvenient hours and pick up extra shifts to benefit the patients.
My paradox was I had to choose one or the other: do what’s right for me or do what’s right for my patients. Both were a bad choice because I valued both.
That’s the ‘Moral Injury’ dilemma many HCPs face today.
My history has greatly impacted how my company functions. Today, I solve for others the problem I faced in my 20s. Healthcare Providers should not have to sacrifice their values to do their job.
We solve this with flexibility and transparency. When HCPs have access to thousands of opportunities, they can find the ones that will fit their schedules. We ask clients enough questions so we can tell HCPs what to expect before they accept an assignment.
When there are fewer surprises, there are fewer call-outs. When there are fewer call-outs, patients receive better care. When patients receive better care, my clients flourish.
Job satisfaction skyrockets when HCPs are paid well, get to do meaningful work, and have the flexibility to have a personal life.
Being an experienced leader, share with us your opinion on how the adoption of modern technologies in the healthcare discipline has transformed the industry and what more could be expected in the near future?
The adoption of modern technologies can revolutionize any industry. The speed of change and improvement only moves faster and faster, and I believe that trend will continue.
But adopting technology does nothing without a unified vision and a system of people behind it. Just look at the Coronavirus Pandemic. If a year and a half ago you had told me our governing regulatory institutions would work with not one, but three separate pharmaceutical companies to bring three vaccines to stave off the same virus – I would have laughed out loud!
Technology requires vision, systems, and people to elicit change. We are at the start of that now, and I expect that trend to continue.
Taking into consideration, the current pandemic, and its impact on global economies, how are you driving your company to sustain operations and ensuring the safety of your employees at the same time?
We pivoted just like the rest of the world. We increased PPE measures for all our Healthcare Professionals, utilized the paycheck protection program to the best of our ability, and have successfully shifted from an office environment to a virtual one.
At the end of the day, we are in the recruitment business. The MSG leadership team made sure long before the pandemic was ever an issue, that we recruited the right people to work for us.
My employees are reliable. They are the kind of people who hate mailing it in. They take great personal satisfaction in striving for excellence, which is why they work here.
Truth be told, they are the reason we were able to do so well in 2020 and the reason I’m confident we’ll continue that trend in 2021.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs who aspire to venture into the healthcare sector?
Do enough research to make sure the solution you offer solves an existing problem that keeps your clients up at night. Also, don’t doubt yourself. Too many people never start because the voice in their head holds them back.
Where do you envision your organization to be in the long run and what are your future goals?
Since 2005, we have improved the lives of thousands of Healthcare Professionals by placing them in assignments that fit their lives both personally and professionally.
Their work has impacted hundreds of client facilities and it’s impossible to calculate how many patients’ lives they’ve touched.
Our vision is to dominate the local staffing market. I want MSG Staffing to impact tens of thousands of HCPs, so they can impact thousands of facilities and hundreds of thousands if not millions of patients. One local community at a time.
We’ve been honored to receive the Best of Staffing Award for the past 4 years in a row, as well as The Joint Commission Seal of Approval for Quality.
