Clinical teams are tired, and not just because of patient load. Many home health and hospice nurses spend much of their day working through the often unclear steps they need to take to address patients' needs. They have to chase down signatures and gather documentation from multiple sources. And, when that's the norm, it leads to real staff burnout with the nursing workflow.
Your nurses are already under pressure. They work directly with patients and their families. They put in long days, and they take on a lot of responsibility.
Most home health and hospice leaders understand when documentation has started to run long or when referrals have slowed and are putting pressure on their team. But that extra strain often hides in plain sight, causing nurses to lose time on tedious processes and steps that don't typically fit together. Simply updating documents can mean going through the process of printing, scanning, uploading, routing, and sending follow-up messages or requests.
And while those tasks might not seem long, the time adds up. A few minutes here or there can lead to hours of extra work for an already busy team.
Workflow fatigue starts when a home health or hospice agency fails to address administrative cracks. These issues drain energy and lead to a real loss of time:
Chasing down signatures for referrals or documents after hours
Re-submitting or re-doing paperwork that has gotten lost, or when a step has been missed
Restarting a task that has incorrect information
Searching multiple systems for the most current version of a document
The core issue is visibility. The way information moves across your organization needs to be transparent. When it is, it prevents delays and ensures the status of orders, workflows, and documentation is clear to all who need access.
When it's not? You end up with too many handoffs. You have unclear instructions and outdated processes that create extra work and increase the likelihood of fatigue. And, you have unpredictability. Even though the clinical work is the same, the outcomes won't always be.
Nurse leaders have an opportunity to improve clinical operations by understanding how tasks move. Gaining clarity and working with the tools you have to create a single source of truth can make all the difference. Here are some practical nurse manager tips that can help you realign expectations, reduce repetition, and improve results:
1) Simplify the workflow when possible. Look into your processes and see if there are unnecessary layers. If a document only needs two reviews, adjust your workflow to remove a third person. Or, if you need a signature, determine if one is enough or if you need everyone to sign.
2) Use a consistent routing process. Standardize the instructions for routing documents to different departments or individuals.
3) Review your old processes, and update them when possible. If you have an outdated system, it may be time to update and use new tools. But even without a new system, smoothing out a workflow can help. Determine which layers are in place that you could move or eliminate to reduce silos.
4) Clarify ownership. Be sure each department knows who is responsible for each task (or its parts).
5)Improve visibility. Create a single source of truth. Whether you use a digital or physical dashboard, everyone on your team should be able to see referrals, orders, and other tasks in one place. That way, everyone is on the same page.
These minor fixes can take the extra strain out of daily processes that normally weigh down your nurses and eat up time.
When workflow friction decreases, you can see benefits almost immediately. Nurses have more time to work with patients and their families, not spend time on long documentation processes and administrative tasks. Their days can feel calmer, and the work itself is clearer.
Along with this, clear digital workflows help reduce errors. Teams can tighten up their documentation cycles, and referral moves with fewer delays. All of that means nurses feel supported.
If your team is already stretched thin, then improving the nursing workflow can make a difference. By eliminating friction points, it creates clearer steps for your team, ensuring they can get more done without wasting time on repetitive tasks.
When your workflows are healthy, work is more manageable. That means nurses will have the energy to do what matters most — provide quality care to their patients.