Tips for making cuts in staff costs
Tips for making cuts in staff costs
With salaries representing more than half the cost of providing services, it is essential that women's health center managers make sure they staff their departments in the most efficient way possible, says Vicki A. Lucas, PhD, RNC, vice president of women's services at Helix Health/Medlantic Health Systems in Lutherville, MD.
Overtime and call pay add greatly to salary costs, so Lucas' departments flex their staffing to produce less than 2% of overtime. Staff levels were determined after extensive time-and-motion studies as well as reviews of care standards. Now, charge nurses review census and staffing levels every two to three hours, not just every shift, says Lucas. If census is low for staffing levels, nurses are sent home, and if census is increasing, nurses are called into work, she explains.
"We have also developed a creative call schedule," says Lucas. "Employees do not receive call pay, but they do receive a $50 bonus when they are called to report to work," she explains. This means that employees are rewarded for being "on call," but Lucas doesn't pay for non-productive time.
Another way to control staff costs is to use assistive personnel, says Ann L. Ropp, RN, vice president of services for women and children at St. Luke's Shawnee Mission Health System in Kansas City, MO. Many RNs perceive nursing assistants as a threat to their jobs, but in reality, it is an efficient way to make sure nurses do tasks that only they can do, says Ropp. Nursing assistants are no more a threat to nurses than paralegals are to attorneys and physician assistants are to surgeons, she adds.
Ropp and Lucas agree that the key to successfully managing staff changes is to make sure that staff members understand that changes are made to increase efficiency and improve quality and patient satisfaction. Sharing cost information and planned changes with staff members in educational sessions, staff meetings, or even informally at shift changes will help everyone see the overall picture and understand why changes are needed.
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