"Shift goes to the lowest bidder..."

Nurses Activism

Published

This is NOT an advertisement; it is a copy of an article. Maybe it's just me, but I find it disgusting:

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Online Shift Auction by Charles Townson and Catherine Whelchel April 2003 - Healthcare Information Many people today are eBay junkies, hooked on bidding and buying from home. We decided to use the same approach, in reverse, to help with nurse staffing at Spartanburg (S.C.) Regional Healthcare System.

Our information systems department set up a Web site where nurses can bid to work certain shifts. But in this case, the lowest bidder wins. For example, an employee might bid $40/hour to work an emergency department night shift. The next employee might bid $38/hour, and so on until the auction ends. The low bidder gets extra income and the healthcare system reaps benefits as well.

Online auctioning gives nurses options, flexibility and scheduling control, enabling them to choose desired shifts and work locations. Some of our nurses were doing extra shifts at other hospitals, and we wanted to give them the extra hours at their own facility while also covering shifts previously covered by agency nurses. Having our own nurses cover additional shifts would ensure a level of dedication and efficiency that could not be achieved with contract nurses.

Key players in planning the site were the system webmaster and nurse staffing coordinator for the internal float pool, with assistance from human resources and accounting. Guidelines were set to ensure that nurses would be qualified for the areas they bid on. The staffing coordinator placed some bids to test the site and resolve problems. Within weeks, the site was ready for use.

Pilot testing was set so only PRN (as-needed) RNs could bid, simplifying payroll issues during the trial period. At first, most shifts sold at the opening bid. In the first two months, only 12 shifts were bid on. But through word of mouth, our organization newsletter and letters to RNs homes, interest grew. Now, with the site in place for more than six months, 35 shifts have been put up for bid in a single week, with up to 10 bids on a shift.

After completion of the pilot phase, the site was opened to full and part-time RNs, and more than 150 have applied to use it. Another hospital in the system has also begun to use the application.

To use the site, nurses must have completed orientation and may not be under any disciplinary action or probation. Logins and passwords cannot be shared. Passwords are program-generated only after a completed online application is approved.

The auction is accessible at Spartanburg's site (http://www.spartanburgregional.com/employment/auction.htm). For the time being, employees cannot place bids while at work inside the system. They must have a unique e-mail address outside the system, which may be a limiting factor for nurses who do not have Internet capabilities at home.

The site is very easy to use. Nurses can search for open shifts by date or work area. The opening bid is set to less than what the hospital would pay to a nursing agency but in the range of what an agency would pay so we can compete with agencies while eliminating associated overhead costs. Rates are set in 50-cent increments to eliminate penny-by-penny bids.

Shifts appear on the site 17 days in advance. The winner is notified electronically 72 hours before the shift. Nurse managers may check to see if there is a bid for a given shift but, because of system security, cannot tell who has bid. At present, winners must call the staffing office to confirm the shift.

The site does not integrate with hospital systems, so payroll remains a manual check-request process since every rate is different. Personnel who oversee the site each day perform this check-and-balance procedure. As the site becomes more active, automatic feed into the payroll system will become a necessity. The positives far outweigh the costs of establishing and maintaining the auction site. More shifts are covered internally, by personnel who have a working relationship with the healthcare system. The site keeps technically savvy nurses engaged, and we hope that visiting the auction site will become part of their routine. Nurses can make extra money at a competitive rate and can schedule their time in advance.

We are considering adding LPNs and other positions to the auction site, and ancillary departments with staffing shortages, such as respiratory therapy and radiology, are also interested in trying out the system. The site has truly provided an innovative solution to our staffing complexities. It is a win-win-win situation: patients receive care, nurses have choices and the organizations saves agency expenditures. Charles Townson is chief operating officer and Catherine Whelchel is chief nursing officer, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Spartanburg, S.C.

Copyright © 2003. The McGraw-Hill Companies. All Rights Reserved

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, Med-Surg.

Kitty writes: "Actually, "salary requirements" disclosed by CEO and other executive position candidates are considered during the hiring process, so really the same thing does happen."

If it is the same thing, then I presume the present CEO was the lowest bidder?

You're sh***ing me, right?

HO-ly COW!

Pretty much... There were four candidates -- he was the youngest, and this is actually his first job as CEO. He's doing a really mediocre job, which tells me you get what you pay for...

jadednurse I literally, spit-my-coffee-all-over laughed out loud!

This IS crap!! If the hospitals had done the right thing for Nursing to begin with, there would be NO need to seek outside agency help. They got themselves into this mess and I personally resent being used as a guinea pig to try and save their own orifices.

I thought we were all striving to remain PROFESSIONAL - this would be a giant step backwards.

Originally posted by JNJ

Just to offer a little comparison - airline steward 'bid' for their shifts a month in advance - not in $ terms, but in terms of what routes and class of passenger they prefer to work.

Poor comparison. FLIGHT ATTENDANTS and pilots bid for their trips--but they're always with the same company and on the same equipment ("class of passenger"). The same flight attendant is always based out of the same base (DCA, for example), and always on the same equipment (737, for example). The company knows who the employee is and the trips are awarded strictly by seniority. Just like staff scheduling in some hospitals; how desired days off are decided. The airline knows that all of the "bidders" are safe, as they've all met the company's training requirements.

My opinion--lowest bidder nurse staffing is a BAD idea.

Amen, Nursegirlkaren. And not to knock flight attendants, but I really don't want to be on par with them in salary, prestige or corporate treatment. My sil was a FA and she says they were treated like a word I'm no longer sure I can type on this BB! Ah, progress! (forgive the digression, not trying to hijack--no pun intended!)

Anyway, this new system works in only one direction--the employers. I require mutual symbiosis in my job......:cool:

Specializes in ER.

In the original article posted it did say that when the shifts were posted to bid on they listed minimum requirements as far as the ability of the nurse goes. Like oriented to the unit, having ACLS etc.

Why dont they just line us up so they can check our teeth before the bidding starts. You know, like livestock.

If I may... my $0.02

I think most of you are taking this way too personal. If you don't agree with it, then don't bid on a job... With the nursing shortage being what it is, you can find work anywhere you want, and as much as we all like to whine about it, usually at pretty decent wages... This is an attempt to fill holes in a staffing schedule while utilizing the nurses who are already familiar with the hospital.

Perhaps instead of looking at this as an insult to the "professionalism" of nursing, or as an opportunity to bash hospital administration for not meeting our needs as nurses, or a situation that jeopardizes patient safety...

Perhaps we could look at the positives... Maybe the hospital administration is trying to get adequate staffing, so that nurses don't have to take 10 to 12 patients... After all, isn't that just as unsafe?

Perhaps they are screening bidders, and accepting not just the lowest bidders, but ONLY the low bidders who meet the required standards to work a particular unit or area...

Unfortunately, some have taken the us against them stance, and everything is a paranoid plot to degrade nursing...

I do not work for this facility, nor am I in administration or management. I do bedside care like most of you. But if I could outbid you for a shift, and I was willing to work for free, then the only concern anyone should have is that I provide competent care for my patients. I hope that is sincerely everyone's concern who has posted here... Not ego, not pride, not professionalism... We have to realize that there's more to nursing than image... We are called to give more than we get back... It's the nature of what we do. Caring for others... Many of you realized this fact a long time ago, and you make up the foundation of nursing... Some will never realize it, and they are tomorrows bank tellers, waitresses, auto mechanics, or (fill in your second career of choice)_____ .

Again... just my $0.02

George

OK George, busted we are for being the slightest bit negative toward nursing administration, what with the low pay, dangerous staffing ratios, inept management, insane schedules, oh, and did I mention the inept management? LOL!

You do make a good point about them looking for nurses within their own system. I don't think anyone will disagree that goes a long way toward the crappy morale inherent in alot of systems, however I think the issue for many is the "lowest bidder" thing. I think it will be very counterproductive to nurses trying to finally get paid a salary that has some parity with their qualifications, experience, responsibility and accountability. If you take an entry-level position with a salary similar to that of a new-grad nurse and then compare their salaries 5, 10, 15 years into their careers nursing salaries really lag behind.

If administration is truly concerned with "fixing the problem" they really need to address the real problems and not treat the symptoms.

I agree with you. I dont see anything good in this kind of system. Why are RNs doing this? Theres a shortage of nurses willing to take those jobs so the ones who are willing should be writing their own ticket & demanding the best pay for it - not low-bidding themselves. Theres something definitely wrong with that picture. What other professsionals are treated this way or would allow it?

That's exactly the point!! :) When I was involved in this "bidding" for shifts, it was the NURSES who CONTROLLED the hourly rate. I ALWAYS made $10-$20 more per hour than my reg pay. (sometimes as high as $50/hr)My heavens...if it were LOWER I'd have to be ...well...kinda dumb to fall for it eh? Solidarity is possible friends!

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