![]() “A great deal depends on the services provided and the community in which the hospital is located.”Ĭalling nurses at the last second letting them know that they cannot work that day is perhaps the worst solution to instances of overstaffing. There is not a single manual for how best to run a hospital,” Palmer said. “Hospitals operate very differently from one another. Things that were once predictable are no longer certain,” said TrautnerĪlthough future staffing needs are unclear, it is clear hospitals and nurses need to find unique solutions to fluctuating patient levels. Still, the healthcare industry is very volatile right now because of the economic instability. They know that there is an uptick during flu season. “Hospitals have been trending patient volumes for a long time. In the midst of economic instability, trying to pinpoint exactly when nursing vacancy levels will rise is difficult at best. “Obviously, with the bulk of Ohio nurses planning to retire within the next 10 years, there will be a tremendous shift in nursing vacancies,” he said.Īlthough comforting for nurses seeking stable employment, statistics such as these are constantly fluctuating. “A recent report from the Institute of Medicine indicated 20 percent of nurses plan to retire within 5 years 48 percent plan to retire within 10 years and 32 percent plan to continue working for 15 years or more,” said John Palmer, director of media and public relations for OHA. Nevertheless, there is a nursing shortage lingering in the distance. The previous year, 2009, the statewide vacancy rate was 6.2 percent. Nurse staffing model adjusts to severity of patients’ illness and injury.Īs economic instability shows no signs of letting up, both hospitals and nurses will need to work together to find unique staffing solutions.Īccording to the Ohio Hospital Association (OHA), the vacancy rate for Ohio nurses was 4 percent in 2010, the most recent year for which data was available. “Until it stabilizes and we get a better picture, we will not know when the mass exodus of baby boomer nurses will happen.” “With the economy, it is up in the air the way it is it will be hard to predict when the nursing shortage will occur,” Trautner said. In turn, this delay in retirement has pushed back a long-expected nursing shortage. ![]() The economic downturn has prompted many nurses to push back their retirement dates. “However, expecting nurses to stay committed to shifts that are later withdrawn eliminates their ability to work elsewhere to recover lost wages.” “This is a hard decision from a public relations perspective and from an emotional perspective,” she said. “There comes a time when hospital administrators have to make a tough call about calling nurses off of their shifts,” said Kelly Trautner, deputy executive officer, Ohio Nurses Association. When flex time is utilized, scheduled nurses receive little to no compensation for their scheduled hours. When faced with a decline in patients, some Ohio hospitals have turned to mandatory shift cancelations known as flex time. Flex time is typically a scheduling policy that allows workers to determine their own hours based on personal preference.įor nurses, however, the term has an entirely different meaning. In most industries, ‘flex-time’ is an employee’s best friend.
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