Productivity

Our hospital uses productivity numbers for each shift to determine staffing. Due to supposed budget deficits they want each unit to run at 103% productivity; so basically we are expected to run one nurse short each shift. Our manager put out a memo saying that the charge nurse is expected to carry at least one patient assignment or there should be a triple assignment. I work in a busy neuro ICU, sometimes this would be okay but many times it is not. Management has even gone so far as too change our available beds to an odd number to ensure the charge nurse has a patient assignment.

Is this the norm for hospitals now or just my hospital? Does anyone else use productivity to determine staffing? We go through this about once a year and it is getting real old for me.