Hiring freezes, cut backs?

In Alabama we have had some cut backs as well. I know of one hospital that has instituted a hiring freeze and is also cutting jobs. The jobs that are being cut are not in patient care areas though. What I heard was the "paper pushers" are the ones at risk of losing their jobs. From what I understand it's not a matter of having a low census, but more the fact that the hospital has been in financial trouble for a while, but keeps spending money. Also another hospital closed down recently, but I believe that was due to the fact they had very few patients throughout the hospital.

I just talked to my Mom, who is a hospice nurse in Vegas. She said that her hospice is requiring that all of the nurses volunteer to not come in at least one of their shifts per pay period. I'm not anywhere near there (I'm in NC), but this is truly scary to me, considering that I am currently trying to pursue a second degree in nursing. I was under the impression that this was an "economy proof" job. They are telling her it has to do with patient census, but I have a hard time believing that is all that it is....has to be linked with the economy somehow, I'm sure.

traveler and float pool checking in here!

the units have their based staff, then unit based travelers, THEN me!
*and* low census. they have been cancelling the float pool every chance they get.
the unit manager made an order to cancel "all travelers" each shift that they can and even their staff are running out of vacation days to make their bills!

times are rough!!

hospitals are going to always need nurses, i just really hope this "recession" doesn't get deep enough to really hurt budgets in Local and state hospitals

We have a hiring freeze here. I think it's less lack of patients and more lack of money.

Here in mid-missouri we had a drop in census for about three weeks back in September. We're back to a full house most shifts, but one of the localk hospitals is laying off and we are in a hiring freeze at my institution.

I'm trying to get my precepting hours done in a med-surg unit of a hospital. Today I arrived to precept with my preceptor, but she wasn't there. The unit clerk said that I need to call to make sure she isn't called off, as many of the nurses have been regularly told not to come in due to low census. I'm afraid I won't be able to complete my 96 hours before I graduate! Also, during my clinical last semester, a med-surg unit at a different hospital was closed (there were two units). It appeared to be a rare and big deal for the nurses.

I'm in NW Ohio. We've got a lot of nursing schools here, and there appears to be too many nurses and hospitals for the population. I'm getting my license in Michigan, as grads are more likely to land a job there, yet everyone knows about Mich's economy. The economy plays a big part (with the way it is, it seems that everyone is affected), but in my experience, it's more about having like seven or eight nursing schools for a mid-sized region.

My company has a hiring freeze that doesn't appear to be ending anytime soon. They are also cutting some programs. The winter visitors due make it difficult in some areas in the country. If a company is staffed enough for the winter influx, they are too over staffed for the summer.

We are not having any cutbacks or lay offs in the Washington State area. Most of the hospitals here are not for profit hospitals. We are short of nurses in this area but it is not as bad here and it was when I lived in Texas.

Some of the hospitals in the Houston area used to have hiring freezes or cut backs but they were the for profit hospitals that had to meet the bottom line. Working for a for profit hospital was a HORRIBLE experience for me. Never again.

I am in Fl and our hospital is in a current hire-freeze. Currently we are a public hospital, but they have started asking for tax money because we are almost in the red. Their solution is not to hire more nurses, but we still have a lot of patients, which may force us to take more than a 6:1 ratio. Rumors are going about that the hospital may go private, then all bets are off.