Nursa is a company that is reimagining the healthcare staffing industry by connecting clinicians and facilities directly to improve patient care. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Nursa founder and CEO Curtis Anderson to learn more about the company.
Curtis Anderson’s Background
What is Anderson’s background? Anderson said:
“Throughout my life and career, I have been blessed with engaged mentors who push me forward. Their faith in my growth has lit the fire of personal faith that change and improvement are inevitable. As a kid in Idaho, where the economy was based mostly on agriculture, the internet emerged as a doorway that connected my life to the larger world. I watched my parents and grandparents build their own businesses. Helping them was my first lesson in work. A well-informed technology teacher in high school enabled students like me to work in IT during the school day. We earned credit toward high school graduation while working.”
“Those four years deepened my skills with computers and machine-learning and taught me that execution is everything in business operations. It was a wonderful introduction to entrepreneurship. I went on to earn my undergraduate degree in business administration from Utah State University. I founded a few companies and then purchased a nursing staffing agency. Each of these experiences provided me with a unique perspective on the operational and financial challenges surrounding temporary nurse staffing and the pitfalls of relying on the status quo. I knew the future would be better, and started to build a tech-based solution that resets what’s possible. I took the lessons learned, applied the spirit of innovation cultivated over a lifetime, and founded Nursa in 2019.”
Formation Of Nursa
What is Nursa, and how did the idea for the company come together? Anderson shared:
“Nursa is a nationwide platform that exists to put a nurse at the bedside of every patient in need. My experience informed my view of what I believe is systemically broken about the healthcare industry’s approach to solving workforce challenges. Each step of my journey has given me another needed perspective on how to develop a true tech-enabled, data-driven solution for the nursing shortage crisis. Nursa is a marketplace platform that improves access to quality patient care by connecting facilities that need help with nurses seeking flexible work.”
Challenges Faced
What challenges did Anderson face in building Nursa? Anderson acknowledged:
“We entered this space as a disruptor, intent on shaking up traditional approaches to nurse staffing with technology. We knew it would take time, and many consumers and providers are still hesitant to embrace this approach. It can be challenging to see something so clearly that others may not. It takes faith in the future and patience in the present. As an entrepreneur, navigating early-stage growth rounds and series fundraising has been fraught with challenges. I’ve even had investors fall asleep on me during pitch meetings. We’ve also faced the challenge of building the right team—crucial to incorporating diverse perspectives and ensuring the viability of our business model. The COVID pandemic wasn’t easy for anyone, and it certainly added challenges to how we operated as a team. That said, we know what we know by the contrast of experience, and I truly believe the hardest parts of the journey forged Nursa’s character. I’m proud of everything we’ve collectively overcome to deliver on our promise to healthcare facilities and nurses. Today, more than 1,300 facilities and 95,000 nurses nationwide trust our platform.”
How Nursa Works
Can you explain a bit about how the app works? Anderson replied:
“Nursa is a nationwide platform that offers a hyper-local solution to nurse staffing challenges. All our efforts support our mission to put a nurse at the bedside of every patient in need, removing the financial strain and operational gaps of traditional staffing methods. Nursa’s real-time technology enables hospitals, health systems, skilled nursing facilities, and community organizations to easily connect and work with qualified, local nursing talent for per diem jobs. Our commitment to transparency and flexibility empowers nursing professionals to pick up desired shifts and create schedules that fit their lifestyles and needs.”
Differentiation From Other Staffing Apps And Agencies
What makes Nursa different from other staffing apps or agencies? Anderson affirmed:
“Nursa takes a hyper-local, contract approach to solving per diem nursing shift needs. This allows us to be extraordinarily responsive to the needs of facilities and nurses alike, with more than half of the shifts posted to our app in the last year being filled in less than 24 hours from a pool of vetted and qualified clinicians within the service area. That’s our main differentiator from a traditional agency or for staffing. Facilities can post the shift they need filled with the prerequisite experience, training, and credentials desired. There is no cost to list shifts, and facilities only pay for the shifts we enable them to fill. On the other end of the marketplace, nurses create profiles that verify their education, background, and experience. They request the work they want, and the buildings confirm those requests.”
“All users benefit from our commitment to transparency, in pay, job performance, satisfaction, and accountability through our in-app rating system. Each of these ensures we’re putting the right people in the right place at the right time — without causing strain to existing staff nurses who are working overtime or who might feel slighted by a contractor coming in to cover open shifts at an exorbitant rate.”
Thoughts About Nurse Staffing Crisis
The nurse staffing crisis has been around for a while. Why do you think it hasn’t been successfully solved? Anderson assessed:
“The nurse staffing crisis goes back much further than most people realize; it’s been a major part of media pandemic coverage over the last three years, but the root issue of nurses being underpaid and undervalued members of care teams stretches back decades. It’s a conversation about “work” more than “workforce.” There is an unfortunate point of view that nurses are simply a major cost center for facilities. Nursa is overturning these misconceptions and empowering nurses to redefine their work-life balance and priorities while assisting facilities that need help. Nursa often ensures a nurse gets to every patient. That’s what matters most – it comes down to patient outcomes and doing our part to make sure that care can be found when and where it’s needed.”
Future Goals
What’s your vision for Nursa’s future and what is your ultimate goal? Anderson concluded:
“We’re looking to change the way nurses are placed at the bedsides of patients in need across the country. Our eye is always on expanding our footprint throughout the United States until we can be found in every community that can use our solution. We’re also looking to stem the tide of talented nurses leaving the field — caused by burnout, retirement, and other risk factors that act as a drain on the pool of workforce-ready clinicians — by providing a flexible work environment in which those who are called to the profession can continue their important work.”
