Crisis Pay

[gemmi999]

Hi, all!

I work at a small, community hospital ER. Right now due to flu season we are INUNDATED with pt's and the hospital is basically maxed out. We are holding tons of pt's in the ER and people are waiting 6 - 10 hours just to be seen. Because of this not as many RNs are picking up overtime.

Now my facility is offering what they term "Crisis Rate", an extra X amount of dollars per shift when they are *very* short staffed. Has your hospital done this? How much extra do you normally get? I just want to get an idea of what people are getting offered so I know if what my hospital is offering is fair/enough or if I should hold out for more.

Thank you!

[DextersDisciple, BSN, RN]

traumaRUs said:

Currently in the level one trauma center, central IL for RNs:

$100 for 4 hours

$150 for 8 hours

$200 for 12 hours

In addition to time and a half pay

I work in the ICU of the only level one trauma in my part of the state but I guess they'd rather run short staffed than fork out some extra cash

[PedsRN2016]

At my hospital, crisis pay is rare and has to be implemented from the top management. Normally, any extra shift for a full time RN gets time and a half, but when the hospital finds themselves very short for several days/weeks, they offer double time for the whole shift for extra shifts. It is offered for a set number of weeks, but with the caveat that it can be rescinded at any time if the census goes down.

[EllaBella1, BSN]

Ours is $150 per shift at the moment. I think it's pretty common to have some sort of incentive.

[AliNajaCat]

When I worked agency, I got double pay on those times I got a shift because they couldn't get any of the staff to do it. All of us who worked agency made out like bandits from about Thanksgiving onward, until about mid-February when they looked at how much money they spent on us over the holidays. Then it was good-bye agency staff for about three months, which was about how long it took for them to burn out their regular staff again and the kids got out of school for the summer, so we were back. I did this for years and it was as regular as clockwork.

As an aside, the regular staff were always jealous of us because they knew our hourly rate was twice theirs. But one day I sat down with one of them and said, "OK, let's look at this. You get paid vacation, I don't. I can get called off half an hour before my shift, and no pay or PTO for that shift and no chance to get another one, you don't. I have to buy my own health insurance for me and my kids, you don't (back then, it was a free or really cheap benefit for a lot of folks). I pay to park here and don't get a discount at the caf. Last year between mid-January and June, I worked exactly six shifts and I still have to pay the mortgage and the bills and buy food. And I don't have union protection. So when you work all that out, we get about the same hourly wage for the year. The only difference is that I don't have to work a weekend day if I want it off, or any other shift off for a kid school reason or whatnot. So, would you take that deal with the uncertainty?"

[Julius Seizure]

I've seen everything from $5-80/hr extra

[foggnm]

I would think in a crisis minimum would be double time because overtime is typically time and a half. I don't think you should 'hold out' but make a decision to work extra based on what you think you can handle/want to work. It is nice in such situation if you can help out, but it isn't your 'responsibility' to rescue an over-censused or understaffed facility. Believe me the hospital doesn't care about you. So if you want some extra cash then work, if not then enjoy your days off!

[djh123]

Let me answer bitterly re: the latter part of 2014 and quite a bit of 2015 in the LTC/rehab facility where I work. We were short on nurses, and at least half a dozen of us had TWO UNITS many times, like 25-30-35 times during that period, which certainly qualifies as a crisis situation, and we received not ONE extra cent. Utter madness. They finally got a couple of agency nurses (one of whom wasn't much better than someone not being there), after we practically had a rebellion.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

Our crisis pay is automatically 1.5 times your base right, regardless of whether you are in OT or not. If that shift does happen to fall on a day where it would put you in overtime because you are above 40 hours, you would get double overtime. Usually they also give you a meal voucher for the cafeteria for that shift as well.

[lasvegasnurs]

Our hospital is $5, $7.50, $10 or $15/hr depending on how bad help is needed and sometimes different shifts and days are higher rates. Other times it felt like the rate offered was random.

[Alex_RN, BSN]

EllaBella1 said:

Ours is $150 per shift at the moment. I think it's pretty common to have some sort of incentive.

This is the standard bonus (not crisis) for RNs at my chronically short-staffed LTAC. Plus OT and shift differential as applicable.

[needlesmcgeeRN, ASN, RN]

I hope everyone is educating these ER patients on correct return precautions, and going to their PCPs. How many of these patients are actually emergent?