What cutbacks have you experienced as a nurse in your area?

oncnursemsn · Jan 19, 2009

I'm in Boston and teach at a community hospital just outside the city. For starters in Boston, management is trying to get us to go with "Lean Staffing" meaning that our pt ratios are to be higher, ill calls not replaced and if we're short techs, too bad. It's rough working day shift on our 24 bed bone marrow transplant unit with just 1 nsg assistant. We are a union hospital, and our union is pushing back, but we've been in negotiations for a while.

My little community hospital has eliminated the IV team- gone. Now all floor nurses have to learn (on their pts) how to start, re-start IV's. I wouldn't want to be a pt there. They did some major "surgery" on their administrative staff, got rid of some pretty high salaried people. A few nurses in endoscopy were canned, but I think that's it.

I just know that my new graduate nurses are having one heck of a time finding jobs in this tight market. Fraid it's only going to get worse, Pres Elect Obama has his hands full...

Katnip, RN · Jan 19, 2009

Our CFO is of the mind that cutting staff does not generate revenue. We closed a unit last month, and we just moved the people who worked there to other units.

The biggest cutbacks we've seen are admin types always need to use their PTO when there's a holiday, raises were only 3% if you make less than $18/hr and 2% if you make more. Anyone in VP or above did not get raises or bonuses. Our pay has always been kind of low for the area to begin with, but in this case, it's probably saving jobs.

We're actually hiring RNs, nurse managers, and some techs. We're a mental health facility, if that makes a difference, and our census has been dropping, but we still need people. We're planning on replacing the adolescent unit we had with a geri-psych unit so will still need more staff.

So far, there are no lay offs or cutting hours on the horizon. We do try to get staff to stop that 15 minutes of overtime here and there. It makes a huge difference when everyone is doing it. We all try to watch supply use. I'm still getting my education and travel reimbursed for the requirements for infection control cert. They paid for my risk management association fees this year, too. I do know that the annual planning sessions/retreats for senior staff has been cancelled. They're doing planning at the corp office down the street.

All in all we're doing ok this year. That's not to say something won't happen to change it though.

NursKris82 · Jan 19, 2009

In MI it's also hard. We have 2 hospitals in my area. One is on a hiring freeze and one is barely hiring. At the second, lots of units have been done away with and nurses are having to move and retrain to different depts. As a new grad, the closest job I could find is 45 mins away. There are other jobs in even bigger cities, about an hour away. Things will get better, but as a new nurse I never thought it would be like this when I graduated...

PICNICRN, BSN, RN · Jan 19, 2009

We have seen cutbacks systemwide.... layoffs mostly of mid management(NMs/assistant NMs/Educators/Lactation Consultants). Trimming the fat! No more bonuses for the big guys! No more education fund. No more lunch and learns for CEUs- just learn/no lunch! Some units with low census have been eliminated-so staff has been displaced or let go. No more cross-training to other units- they won't pay. No more nurse extern program. And we have been told ABSOLUTELY no overtime!! Although I don't know how that will really work?

I guess I'm just happy I still have a job and they haven't yet announced that our pay will be cut. :no:

eandgsma · Jan 19, 2009

At our hospital we are no longer getting call back unless you work >40h week. We are not getting raises this year, which sucks for me cuz I'm at the bottom of the pay scale. Our on call pay is being cut from $4/hr to $2/hr. If you work 7a-7p you no longer get shift diff for 3p-7p. We are also on a hiring freeze. They were talking about reducing our shift diff for evening and night shift as well as weekend diff, but they didn't do that for now. The problem I have is that we are usually understaffed at night and if they need to call in nurses to work, no one is going to come in unless its for call back. Since they eliminated call back, we will be understaffed. One example, there is a Sat coming up that there are only 2 nurses scheduled, no one wants to work it or switch cuz they won't be getting call back. WTH are they going to do? Glad I'm not working that night.

I'm curious...of those who replied with cutbacks, how many are not for profit vs. for profit hospitals?

nurseshepherd · Jan 20, 2009

Thanks to all who have replied. Interesting that many included administrative cutbacks; to date we have not seen that at our not-for-profit hospital system. Our local nursing programs are still taking as many students as they have desks for and I worry about those getting out in the next year or two expecting (and needing) to find a job in the current climate. Thanks again!:)

oramar · Jan 20, 2009

Thanks to all who have replied. Interesting that many included administrative cutbacks; to date we have not seen that at our not-for-profit hospital system. Our local nursing programs are still taking as many students as they have desks for and I worry about those getting out in the next year or two expecting (and needing) to find a job in the current climate. Thanks again!:)

I have been though this before, it has always turned around. I predict in two to five years there will be great recriminations by the public against politicians and healthcare managment who allowed hospital capacity to drop to such a dangerous low levels. People are putting off procedures but they can't do it for ever. People just going into nursing at this point will most likely graduate into a new shortage. It will be the ones that graduate in next 12 months that have problems. That will be regional, some places will still have a nurse shortage even though all of this. One to two years ago I predicted at least one more tight market before the great shortage arrives just as seven to eight years ago I think I was one of the first here to predict a shortage, a big shortage. All I can say is here we go again.