1 - Mandatory Overtime
People tend to get resentful when they don’t feel they can call their lives their own.
Mandatory overtime is one of those tough situations that can cause problems.
The hospital has a responsibility to make sure patients are safe and in some states the organization must also meet regulatory guidelines for staffing.
Many nurses don’t mind helping out in a crisis situation, but when mandatory overtime becomes the norm, they get tired and cranky.
They’re between a rock and hard place, however, as nurses who refuse to work mandatory overtime can and have been disciplined by the organization they work for.
Each state handles mandatory overtime regulations differently, but there is no state in which the practice is completely prohibited.
In some organizations, mandatory overtime is a way to avoid the additional costs of hiring new staff.
In the long run, however, this practice is counterproductive because it drives up turnover, which also has significant costs.
Of course, nurses leave the hospital for other reasons.
The family may be relocating because the nurse’s spouse has taken a new job, or to be closer to an aging parent.
After a few years, the nurse may decide this was not a good career choice (it can be hard to know whether the shoe fits until you’ve worn it for a while).
Nurses do grow older and retire, while others may be forced to leave the profession for health reasons.
Some nurses develop “compassion fatigue” and burn out, a not uncommon occurrence in service professions.
Nursing turnover and the reasons it occurs are complex issues; there is no one-size-fits-all solution and each nurse makes a decision for his or her individual situation.
However, for the organization that wants to minimize nursing turnover, there are some important take-home messages: treat people well, with respect and kindness; make sure managers are competent, empathetic and really care about their staff; listen to staff concerns; offer fair pay and good benefits; do everything you can to mitigate the disadvantages of shift work and staffing difficulties.
These strategies can go a long way to keep nurses from leaving hospitals.
Source:
www.creativenurse.com/nurses-leaving-hospitals/
 | |
Inscription à :
Articles
(
Atom
)
