Help with Staffing Incentives?

[tfloyd]

Hi, I am responsible for coming up with staffing programs to help cover multiple units that are currently short staffed. Can anyone share with me incentive programs they have seen work for nurses to cover 6 week or 12 week schedules? We currently offer last minute bonus pay shifts but I am looking for something that gets nurses to proactively schedule themselves to avoid last minute begging. One example: Commit to one 12-hr OT shift each week for 6 or 12 weeks, each OT shifts is time and a half plus $10/hr., etc.

PS. I can't change leadership practices. ? Just looking for unique staffing incentives. Thanks in advance for sharing!

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

On 8/7/2019 at 2:42 PM, tfloyd said:

We currently offer last minute bonus pay shifts but I am looking for something that gets nurses to proactively schedule themselves to avoid last minute begging. One example: Commit to one 12-hr OT shift each week for 6 or 12 weeks, each OT shifts is time and a half plus $10/hr., etc.

Where I've worked, we've done this in 4-week increments with a lump sum bonus (i.e. you make OT pay throughout the shift, plus a $1,000 bonus for completing the contract).

I agree that money is a great incentive, but below are some incredibly useful non-financial bonuses that nurses might actually want (i.e. related to floating, scheduling, and being put on call).

On my unit, we give certain unit 'perks.' For instance, you could give people a pass to skip their next mandatory float, a pass to push them up to the front of the list the next time call gets offered, or a pass to be scheduled for one less weekend shift than required. We offer these types of perks for to incentivize preceptors and they get to choose which 'perk' they want, but I could see it working for bonus shifts.

Also, I would give these folks priority when making the next schedule. I work nights and I like to group my nights together. If doing a 6-week contract meant I was going to get stuck on some random night shift outside of my schedule block, I'd never do it. Since you know who these people are in advance, I'd make one of your 'perks' that these guys get first choice when scheduling (or are the last to be moved off of their preferred days).

[MSO4foru, ADN]

Again what about just staffing appropriately? If folks wanna pick up the overtime make it well above the normal O T rates. Incentives like extra time off or ," not having to float" only do so much . I used to routinely pick up OT..... now I feel like I have been hit by a bus on end of night #3- unless you're going to make it well worth my time, not interestrd.

[HarleyvQuinn, MSN, RN, NP]

3 hours ago, MSO4foru said:

Again what about just staffing appropriately? If folks wanna pick up the overtime make it well above the normal O T rates. Incentives like extra time off or ," not having to float" only do so much . I used to routinely pick up OT..... now I feel like I have been hit by a bus on end of night #3- unless you're going to make it well worth my time, not interestrd.

This. Even if it's for extra money, picking up extra time isn't always worth it if you know you're going to still be very short staffed and just end up feeling like you played chicken with an eighteen-wheeler and lost.

[2BS Nurse, BSN]

We have constant short-staffing in outpatient. No overtime or incentives allowed. We are just expected to work short and keep our scores high. Crazy!!! Our clinic RNs would rather pick up hours in inpatient since they get a nice differential. Have you thought of contacting them??

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

On 8/8/2019 at 7:15 AM, beekee said:

I once got a generic certificate that didn’t even specify what I did and another water bottle. The kicker? I had to walk far, far away on my own time (office wasn’t even open when I was at work) to pick up this cheesy certificate and my 87th cheap water bottle. Trust me, this “incentive” merely made me super annoyed. I certainly did not feel valued or respected.

Right. Unless the certificate also comes with cash, save the printer paper and the nurse's time and energy.

[Crash_Cart]

Everyone has an opinion, but cashless incentives do, and have been scientifically proven to be motivators for increased productivity.

[brownbook]

I vote for hire more staff, not gift cards or overtime pay etc.

[Crash_Cart]

And so what does a staffing scheduler do when hiring new staff is not an option?

[DeeAngel]

2 hours ago, Crash_Cart said:

And so what does a staffing scheduler do when hiring new staff is not an option?

Then management needs to come in and work the floors.

[BSN-to-MSN, ADN, BSN, RN]

On 8/7/2019 at 8:50 PM, LovingLife123 said:

We have an incentive sign up schedule after scheduling ends. You get a certain amount for each shift worked on top of your time and a half. But the rules have become so ridiculous to get that bonus money nobody signs up for it anymore. It’s like they look for any reason to not pay you the money promised for incentive shifts worked.

We have the same thing. And of course, when the bonus shift comes, they cancel you first if they don't need you.

[Rionoir, ADN, RN]

On 8/7/2019 at 9:28 PM, JKL33 said:

Even those who make that claim are not talking about the kind of things you mention.

My answer: It's the #1 or #2 thing. Respect/regard, and money. Pick your order.

Ok but it’s not lol

[KrysyRN, BSN]

I worked for an organization (not a hospital but a 24/7 operation) that worked us to death during our scheduled shifts but compensated us to the point that we felt like we were given winning scratch off tickets when we picked up a few hours of overtime. Not only did they give us a lump sum for a certain amount of hours extra that we worked [typically $50 for every two to three hours], but they also mailed us cash cards [anywhere from $150 to $300] within a week or two as a bonus. Nurses would jump at the chance to work for the extra cash. We would obsessively check the "extra time board" waiting for hours to appear.

On top of this, we were told that they were keeping track of hours of extra time that each nurse worked each year. It would affect our yearly raise. During our yearly eval, we not only got a raise, but we were given an extra bonus AGAIN for picking up extra hours throughout the year.

Another way our scheduler lured us in to working extra time was by splitting shifts into smaller blocks of time, such as 2- or 4-hour blocks, instead of full shifts. This worked really well.