is anyone else being laid off, reduced hours, etc?

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2014

Yup everywhere...I am afraid for the future when there willl be nothing but new grads and poorly trained old grads to care for me.

Surprised1, MSN, RN · Jul 13, 2014

We haven't had any lay-offs per se, but there have been some "discontinuation of positions" in our hospital system as a whole. I understand that to mean that no-one has actually become unemployed, just "reassigned". Overtime is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and shift diffs are being reduced, as are other some other perks.

I'm sorry to hear of your situation. Did your facility begin their expansion plans before these economic changes occurred this year? At any rate, good luck and best wishes.

westieluv · Jul 13, 2014

Well, there's way of making things more "cost effective", and then there is the practice of not hiring new help at all and squeezing more and more workload and responsibility out of the current employees, which is where I'm at, and believe me, it's not fun either!

I am an RN at an outpatient dialysis clinic. Not only have they gone to making the RN do the work of a dialysis tech so that they can cut tech hours, meaning that I have to set up machines and put a row of patients on and also be responsible for assessing and passing meds to two other rows of patients (there are four patients to a row), but when I am scheduled for one of our fun, new 14 hr. shifts... :madface: ...I have to be responsible for overseeing a total of 36 dialysis treatments a day. That is way too much responsibility for one RN.

I do not want to get old or sick in this current healthcare environment...do you?

brandy1017, ASN, RN · Jul 13, 2014

PRN nurses by definition are meant to be available when needed and there will be lulls when they have hired regular staff. How do you know they are specifically targeting BSN/MSN RN's if they are not PRN. Many places want pool nurses at the ready, but the dept managers prefer to use their own regular staff to save on their budget. If you are going to do pool you need to have either a second income or a large amount of savings stashed for the down times. Not my cup of tea, I prefer stability and security!

Usually if there are layoff's it is because there is less demand such as less surgeries or procedures and now they want to save money and lay off staff. Many times staff has the option to be redeployed elsewhere in the system, though no guarantee plus forced to take the left over openings such as night shift.

ceccia · Jul 13, 2014

PRN nurses by definition are meant to be available when needed and there will be lulls when they have hired regular staff.

i am aware of what PRN nursing is. what I asked is if anyone else is experiencing the same thing at their workplace, and if so, what are they planning on doing now that their hours have been reduced.

How do you know they are specifically targeting BSN/MSN RN's if they are not PRN.

because several members of mgmt have specifically said so.

Many places want pool nurses at the ready, but the dept managers prefer to use their own regular staff to save on their budget.

again - i am well aware of the myriad of ways mgmt generally attempts to serve the almighty budget. they're reducing their regular staff members' hours as well. mgmt literally is saying that they are trying to get rid of the highest-paid employees and bring in people that they can pay less.

If you are going to do pool you need to have either a second income or a large amount of savings stashed for the down times. Not my cup of tea, I prefer stability and security!

there's no such thing. The other company I worked on-call for announced that two of their facilities were going out of business and gave their regular staff exactly one week to find new jobs. Their reasoning being that if they gave the staff more advanced notice, they might find other jobs before the end of the month and leave early.

mgmt doesn't give a flying you know what about any of us- and our jobs are not guaranteed- whether full time, PRN, or anything else. but we all know that. back on topic - if you're being made redundant or having your hours reduced, what are you thinking of doing next?

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Jul 13, 2014

Census has been bursting through the seems at my workplace since the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. ObamaCare) was enacted into law.

We've been on a hiring spree for the past few months to fill all the staffing voids. Shift cancellations now occur only once in a blue moon.

However, starting in 2015 our PRN nurses who have been accustomed to full time hours will be forced to work no more than 30 hours per week due to the new law. They work PRN for the extra $9 to $12 per hour, but soon they will need to choose between accepting a full-time position for lower pay or contending with reduced PRN hours.

Caffeine_IV · Jul 13, 2014

One of my PRN jobs just hired 5 or 6 new grad RNs. So I expect a reduction in hours in the next 2 months and will be looking for an additional PRN job.

There may be 1 or 2 nurses leaving or going to a dayshift position.

CantDecideUsername · Jul 13, 2014

Wow this makes me feel better about my decision to not go for an entry masters in nursing... I don't want to be OVER qualified amidst an environment of cutbacks and uncertainty

allnurses Guide · Jul 13, 2014

Census has been bursting through the seems at my workplace since the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. ObamaCare) was enacted into law.
We've been on a hiring spree for the past few months to fill all the staffing voids. Shift cancellations now occur only once in a blue moon.
However, starting in 2015 our PRN nurses who have been accustomed to full time hours will be forced to work no more than 30 hours per week due to the new law. They work PRN for the extra $9 to $12 per hour, but soon they will need to choose between accepting a full-time position for lower pay or contending with reduced PRN hours.

This. Lots if jobs for experienced nurses here and full to the gills. No layoffs. No limitation on OT.

OC_An Khe · Jul 13, 2014

ACA has helped some states while others have failed to utilize the Act to its fullest potential. Insurance coverages have changed with many people being forced into high deductible plans (outside of the ACA) and there has been a significant reduction in electable non emergent care and people are choosing to suffer because they can't afford the high deductible. Procedures once done in hospitals are now done in free standing facilities some of which do not have the regulatory burden that hospitals do thus moving both patients and jobs out of the hospital.

Guttercat, ASN, RN · Jul 14, 2014

The OP's post sounds veeeerrry familiar to me.

Our hospital built a brand new facility, during which time the fear mongering started with carefully orchestrated "letters from the CEO." "We want to save everyone's jobs, oh we do we really do! But we don't know if we can," and, "We the senior administration are having a meeting again this week (at xyz resort) to discuss how to save your jobs!"

Then came the announcements of early retirement offerings: "You don't have to take the early retirement, but we can't guarantee you'll still have a position."

Then came the mysterious disappearances of RN's with seniority. They went flying out the window like so many bits of confetti.

Then came the massive hiring of new grads. Very young new grads.