Published
That sounds like a great idea... if only! We usually get the "be glad you have a job in these hard times" speech when we are asked to work short! Oh well, as long as we continue to cover for the administration, things will never change. In fact I heard last week that since we are currently taking on more pts (at first 4-5 on tele unit, then 5-6) the matrix will be changed to 7!!
maxthecat
243 Posts
I was just having a discussion about compensation for nurses with a colleague. He introduced me to an idea I had never heard of before. He told me that several years ago he worked for a nursing home that compensated employees for working short. In his example, say that the census and acuity called for 5 staff members for a certain shift. If the faciilty was not able to find 5 staff and the remaining 4 people had to "work short," the facility would divide what the pay would have been for the 5th staff member among the 4 who worked, as compensation to them for having to work short. Because they had to pay for 5 people whatever happened, there was no incentive for them to deliberately work people short in order to save themselves money.
After I picked myself up off the floor, I marvelled at what a fine idea this seemed. Has anyone else ever heard of such a thing?