Why would a facility over-hire nurses?

You mentioned they are "hiring so many nurses, and cutting everyone's hours". I work through an agency, and I've noticed many facilities are hiring an abundance of part time nurses.

This way, they always have nurses clamoring for more hours. This reduces their need for expensive outside agency staffing since they have so many of their own staff competing for shifts. And by cutting back hours they have fewer full time employees, so they are paying less benefits. The company wins financially on both sides.

I agree. We do this at our facility. Having an abundance of nurse and CNA staff has proven to be a boon. We don't have trouble filling shifts and frankly, having more PT and PRN staff and less FT staff cuts down on the cost of benefits and allows us to use the money in other ways (pay, incentives, etc.). It also makes scheduling far easier and has actually freed me up to take on more responsibility saving more money in the budget.

There ARE two main benefits from this however.

The first one is that it gives us a position of power. Don't hate me but I don't have time for some of the games that employees play. I've played them in the past. If you can't help me out I have X many more people that can.

The second one is that if I have an employee that is causing problems I can reduce their hours or replace them completely without going through the hassle of counseling, educating or other avenues. I say hassle because it IS a hassle.

Many of these reasons sound harsh but business is harsh. Employees and employers owe nothing to each other. Employees advance in skill because it benefits them. Employers offer certain benefits and incentives to employees because it benefits them. It's nothing new.