The South Nassau project team, back row from left, Donna Pandolfi, RN, director, nurse recruitment and retention, patient care services; and Gina Kearney, RN, director of nurse education. Front row from left, Andrea Mascuch, MBA, business manager, patient care services; Yvette Mooney, RN, senior vice president, patient care services; Dana Lewis, RN, nursing informatics manager, FlexChoiceRN project manager.
(Photo courtesy of South Nassau Communities)
Creating reasonable and efficient schedules that satisfy the needs of a hospital and its nurses is a serious balancing act. Administrators juggle a wide variety of factors and constraints, working through countless possible combinations and often rely on agency nurses to fill shifts. Some hospitals spend millions on agency nurses, annually paying 30% to 40% of that amount as premium to an agency.
South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, N.Y., recently implemented a program to recruit a large contingent of per diem RNs to fill its schedules at a lower cost, reducing its reliance on overtime, premium pay and external agencies. With the lead of Yvette Mooney, RN, MS, CNAA, senior vice president of patient care services at South Nassau, the hospital implemented an innovative program focusing on work-life balance for nurses. It adopted the main principles of the FlexChoiceRN model, a product line of Critical Resource Inc., on how to recruit, retain, deploy, manage, orient and educate a large pool of per diem nurses.
The company has implemented similar plans in 21 other hospitals in the country with great results. Last year Critical Resource created a customized plan in only 90 days for South Nassau focusing on its nurses’ needs. First, the implementation team assessed the hospital’s current practices and processes along with the workforce demographics in the area, and also researched what other hospitals in the local market do to retain workforce. The team met with hospital administrators to map out the hospital’s goals and conducted numerous meetings to learn about the needs not only from management but also the per diem nurses already working there.
“Flexibility is what most of these nurses are looking for,” says William Reau, RN, BSN, CEO of Critical Resource Inc. and co-founder of FlexChoiceRN. “Of course, everyone is looking for more money, but roughly 25% of the U.S. nursing workforce is non-traditional (not looking for normal full-time employment) who want their careers to fit their lifestyle.”
The hospital’s goal was to reduce its overtime spending while improving the overall quality of care. The hospital’s project team worked to adopt systems and processes that helped fit these needs into the hospital’s organization. Aside from a new scheduling system, they put a new nurse compensation model and a new recruitment campaign in place, improved their internal and external Web sites, and their orientation and on-boarding process.
“All hospitals want to reduce cost,” Reau says. “It’s a very typical goal. About 60% of all hospital expenses is labor cost, and 60% of that amount is related to nursing. There is always a way to reduce these costs without job cuts. Hospitals need to embrace technology and approach the nursing workforce with more flexibility.”
The program was rolled out in November 2009. One of its steps toward achieving more flexibility is a new scheduling system that allows nurses to create their own schedules. They can determine the days and hours they can and can’t work and are able to pick up extra shifts if they desire.
The scheduling can be done on paper, in person, in e-mail or over the phone. The hospital is testing its online scheduling site where nurses will be able to access their planned schedule. Administrators hope to put the site to full operation within the next six months. Nurses will be able to update or customize their schedules from a PDA or any computer with Internet connection and receive instant notification about openings and available hours.
Hospital administrators say they are pleased with the results the program has shown so far because it is proving to be an attractive employment solution.
“The recruitment phase was very successful,” says Donna Pandolfi, RN, CHCR, director of nurse recruitment and retention, patient care services. “In just three months we successfully hired more than 100 new per diem RNs. Many of the newly hired RNs are already working.”
The newly hired RNs receive a non-traditional orientation and on-boarding, which includes clinical orientation and classroom and online education.
“We have received very positive feedback from our newly hired FlexChoiceRN’s as well as our existing staff,” says Alison Gelfand, RN, CHCR, nurse recruiter, patient care services. “In the past, the commitment for per diem RN applicants was more than most could give. The FlexChoiceRN program offers the per diem RN the option to choose the shifts they desire to provide work-life balance.”
Such a flexible program allows nurses working full time to schedule per diem shifts at South Nassau. “The program has created its own referral base,” says Andrea Mascuch, MBA, business manager, patient care services. “Nurses recommend us to their friends and family, and it has developed into its own recruitment source.”
Per diem RNs also stated during their meetings that they want to be valued as an asset to the hospital. The new program has attracted additional experienced nurses to work at South Nassau, especially in hard-to-fill areas such as perioperative services, critical care and the ED.
“We value the work of these seasoned and knowledgeable nurses,” says Dana Lewis, RN, MSN, OCN, NE-BC, nursing informatics manager and FlexChoiceRN project manager. “As they learn about South Nassau, our existing staff also learns from them.”
The project team believes it has made South Nassau more attractive to nurses and patients alike since it is the only hospital on Long Island with such a program in place. They expect the new model to save money and significantly improve the quality of care since the option attracts experienced nurses.
South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, N.Y., recently implemented a program to recruit a large contingent of per diem RNs to fill its schedules at a lower cost, reducing its reliance on overtime, premium pay and external agencies. With the lead of Yvette Mooney, RN, MS, CNAA, senior vice president of patient care services at South Nassau, the hospital implemented an innovative program focusing on work-life balance for nurses. It adopted the main principles of the FlexChoiceRN model, a product line of Critical Resource Inc., on how to recruit, retain, deploy, manage, orient and educate a large pool of per diem nurses.
The company has implemented similar plans in 21 other hospitals in the country with great results. Last year Critical Resource created a customized plan in only 90 days for South Nassau focusing on its nurses’ needs. First, the implementation team assessed the hospital’s current practices and processes along with the workforce demographics in the area, and also researched what other hospitals in the local market do to retain workforce. The team met with hospital administrators to map out the hospital’s goals and conducted numerous meetings to learn about the needs not only from management but also the per diem nurses already working there.
“Flexibility is what most of these nurses are looking for,” says William Reau, RN, BSN, CEO of Critical Resource Inc. and co-founder of FlexChoiceRN. “Of course, everyone is looking for more money, but roughly 25% of the U.S. nursing workforce is non-traditional (not looking for normal full-time employment) who want their careers to fit their lifestyle.”
The hospital’s goal was to reduce its overtime spending while improving the overall quality of care. The hospital’s project team worked to adopt systems and processes that helped fit these needs into the hospital’s organization. Aside from a new scheduling system, they put a new nurse compensation model and a new recruitment campaign in place, improved their internal and external Web sites, and their orientation and on-boarding process.
“All hospitals want to reduce cost,” Reau says. “It’s a very typical goal. About 60% of all hospital expenses is labor cost, and 60% of that amount is related to nursing. There is always a way to reduce these costs without job cuts. Hospitals need to embrace technology and approach the nursing workforce with more flexibility.”
The program was rolled out in November 2009. One of its steps toward achieving more flexibility is a new scheduling system that allows nurses to create their own schedules. They can determine the days and hours they can and can’t work and are able to pick up extra shifts if they desire.
The scheduling can be done on paper, in person, in e-mail or over the phone. The hospital is testing its online scheduling site where nurses will be able to access their planned schedule. Administrators hope to put the site to full operation within the next six months. Nurses will be able to update or customize their schedules from a PDA or any computer with Internet connection and receive instant notification about openings and available hours.
Hospital administrators say they are pleased with the results the program has shown so far because it is proving to be an attractive employment solution.
“The recruitment phase was very successful,” says Donna Pandolfi, RN, CHCR, director of nurse recruitment and retention, patient care services. “In just three months we successfully hired more than 100 new per diem RNs. Many of the newly hired RNs are already working.”
The newly hired RNs receive a non-traditional orientation and on-boarding, which includes clinical orientation and classroom and online education.
“We have received very positive feedback from our newly hired FlexChoiceRN’s as well as our existing staff,” says Alison Gelfand, RN, CHCR, nurse recruiter, patient care services. “In the past, the commitment for per diem RN applicants was more than most could give. The FlexChoiceRN program offers the per diem RN the option to choose the shifts they desire to provide work-life balance.”
Such a flexible program allows nurses working full time to schedule per diem shifts at South Nassau. “The program has created its own referral base,” says Andrea Mascuch, MBA, business manager, patient care services. “Nurses recommend us to their friends and family, and it has developed into its own recruitment source.”
Per diem RNs also stated during their meetings that they want to be valued as an asset to the hospital. The new program has attracted additional experienced nurses to work at South Nassau, especially in hard-to-fill areas such as perioperative services, critical care and the ED.
“We value the work of these seasoned and knowledgeable nurses,” says Dana Lewis, RN, MSN, OCN, NE-BC, nursing informatics manager and FlexChoiceRN project manager. “As they learn about South Nassau, our existing staff also learns from them.”
The project team believes it has made South Nassau more attractive to nurses and patients alike since it is the only hospital on Long Island with such a program in place. They expect the new model to save money and significantly improve the quality of care since the option attracts experienced nurses.
Tamas Horvath is a freelance writer. Send letters to the editor to editorNY@nursingspectrum.com or comment below.
