Salaried Staff Nurses?

[ChristineN, BSN, RN]

Hey, so last night I was at work and alot of the staff nurses were talking about a rumor that some hospitals, in an effort to save money, are switching bedside nurses from an hourly salary to a yearly salary instead. Does anyone know if any hospitals are actually doing this? I can't imagine this being well received by nursing, let along practical.

[caliotter3]

So if you have to work overtime for some reason, no overtime? Does not bode well in my book.

[danh3190]

Haven't heard of anybody trying that.

Nurses are always talking about how they are professionals. In a lot of the business world "professional" equates to salaried and it means that you work (without overtime) until you get the job done. I wonder how many lawyers etc punch a time clock like we do. After switching to nursing from my "professional" job, I've always though it's a good thing being an hourly paid laborer who gets over time.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

Nurses are salaried in the UK and it works fine

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

As mentioned in the UK it is salaried however overtime had to be sanctioned and you was paid for it. Worked well

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

Haven't heard of anybody trying that.

Nurses are always talking about how they are professionals. In a lot of the business world "professional" equates to salaried and it means that you work (without overtime) until you get the job done. I wonder how many lawyers etc punch a time clock like we do. After switching to nursing from my "professional" job, I've always though it's a good thing being an hourly paid laborer who gets over time.

I don't have a problem with working til the job is done, if the job has an end in sight. Health care never ends. Hospitals are 24 hr facilities. Thus, shift work is more appropriate. However, I do often stay a little late if I need to finish charting, want to take down a blood transfusion, or am finishing up paper work from an admit.

[fungez]

I worked salaried for a few years. Yeah, you didn't get OT but it was permissable to leave early or in the middle of the day (for an appointment or family thing.) I doubt that would work in bedside.

[Zookeeper3]

Short of a code at change of shift, I am never ever late, this wouldn't affect me, and stop those who milk the clock... not you hard working nurses whom couldn't get it all done and are charting. I mean the clock suckers whom sit when done after report for 30 minutes and talk about family... eat and sit ( in my ICU a common thing, not the floors).

This also helps with time management... a few nurses, mind you only two of our nurses are notorious for staying two hours after giving report and writing two full written pages on stable patients... they simply double chart for no good reason.

so mind you, in my and only my unit (need many disclaimers lately because people are crazy here), this would be a good cost cutting move, I assure you, that we are a very kind unit where if you couldn't get it done, I realize that because you couldn't and your word is good. The very few brief offenders whom tried to dump on others continuously had a peer saying "please finish this before you go". That is a very rare occasion and promptly fixed with a "slacker".

So again to summarize, in MY ICU, not an issue and it will save thousands yearly in our budget. The lead charges change shift when we do so they don't "see" the clock milkers. I've been known to walk up to a lax conversation and say... "it's time for the night shift to start, ya'll have to go home... what needs to be done?" and they disperse.

It's people like this that are driving the change. I think if we halt those that abuse, we wouldn't need the change to salary. But again, this is a brief glimpse into my unit only, not anyone else.

geeze the disclaimers lately drive me nuts, but thanks for listening to my humble opinion, which will NOT be popular. Sorry gang.

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

In South Africa, most nurses are salaried except for those who work for nursing agencies; they work in various hospitals and are paid according to a predetermined rate. There are numerous drawbacks, eg no subsidised health insurance or private pension scheme, but it seems to work well for nurses past retirement age who wish to augment their incomes, and those who like a less structured work environment. They are classed as "sessional" or "casual", but if they work longer hours than originally agreed, they are entitled to overtime rates.

Salaried staff are classed as "permanent", and are entitled to overtime rates, but many employers try to find ways of tap-dancing around the South African labour laws. I suggest that if you are worried about this happening to you, then involve your union. I don't know what legal or constitutional protection you have in your country, but you and your colleagues should insist that no changes be made unless your employer has engaged in a negotiating process with all of you and/or your union representatives. Remember, your salary and the way it is calculated falls under the conditions of employment which you agreed to when you joined that company; if you signed a contract with them, any attempt by your employer to change those terms unilaterally may be regarded as breach of contract.

[dthfytr, ADN, LPN, RN, EMT-B, EMT-I]

Hospitals in El Paso tried it. They made it all a one way deal, though. You got salary, nothing extra for overtime or mandatory meetings, and you had to use comp time if you were out. It only took 2 months before every meeting or class became mandatory and people were spending 7 days per week at work. It amounted to a considerable cut in pay, and nurses started quitting en mass to go work for hourly pay elsewhere. The hospitals went back to hourly pay in 6 months. I don't mind salary in theory, but this was flagrant abuse.

[ER_JEN_RN]

I work for IHS and we are salaried as well. We do have 4 hours of mandatory OT per pay period (2 weeks) but we get paid time and a half for anything over 80 in a pay period. We also get double time for holidays worked (or the first shift worked post holiday if you didnt work the actual holiday). It actually works out pretty well for us, but if the OT was not paid at a higher rate, I agree that it would be a problem.

[mappers]

This might not be legal. There are requirements that must be met to be exempt vs. non-exempt. I'll do some searching around after I finish hauling my kids to their various activities. (Definately don't get OT for THAT!)