Nurses Can Be Stretched Thin

– Nurses work longer than their shift length 81% of the time

– 19% of nurses work two or more jobs for multiple employers.

– Nurses average 6.7 hours of sleep on the days that they work.

– When nurses work overtime, the average amount of time worked over scheduled hours is 49 minutes.

Flexibility Allows Nurses to Create Balance

– Career options: school, researcher, educator

– 56.2% of all RNs work in hospitals

– 29% in Government, NGO and EDU positions

– 8% in physicians offices

– 5% in home care

– 5%in Nursing care facilities

– 3% in employment services

– scheduling flexibility

– 12 hour shifts, 10 hour, 8 hour shifts are the norm

– longer shifts allow nurses to work fewer days in a week

– 4 hour shifts becoming more prevalent as baby boomers

– The mean age of a nurse in the state is 47.3 years old.

– In New York, 75.5% of nurses are over the age of 40 and nearly 31% are over age 55.

– Pick Your Shift

– Every weekend plan with benefit option (EWP)

– This is a pattern of working every weekend.

– These nurses often receive a higher rate of pay.

– Flexible schedule plan in lieu of benefits (FSP)

– These nurses work without benefits at a higher rate of pay to supplement full-time, part-time and casual staff as needed.

– The length of the shift may vary depending on the unit’s needs.

– Casual status

– A casual nurse is used to supplement regularly scheduled staff.

– A casual nurse shall be called or scheduled to work in a manner mutually agreeable between the nurse and the hospital.

– These nurses are often required to work at least two shifts in a four-week schedule

– Float Pool

– Nurses have the opportunity to float between networked hospitals.

– Shared positions

– Two nurses work together to share one full-time position.

Supportive Environments Help Nurses Cope

– Peer support

– 76% of nurses are “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their jobs

– 2nd most popular reason for Nursing job satisfaction: “Colleagues, working relationships and team collaboration”

– second only to “caring for patients and making a difference”

– 24% of all Registered Nurses are members of the forum allnurses.com

– (2,909,357 RNs in the U.S., 691,742 on forum)

– Continued Education

– Over 650 free continued education courses are offered (usually for free) from most hospital employers

– tuition assistance is offered to many nurses to achieve graduate programs

– to date, 11% of RNs have earned Master’s degrees

Sources

– http://www.hanys.org/workforce/reports/2010-06-07_nurse_survey_results_2010.pdf

– http://www.wha.org/toolkit/fatigue.pdf

– http://www.minoritynurse.com/minority-nursing-statistics

– http://www.healtheast.org/careers/careers-at-healtheast/nursing-careers/rn-scheduling-options.html

– http://allnurses.com/

– http://www.healtheast.org/careers/careers-at-healtheast/nursing-careers/rn-scheduling-options.html

– http://www.nurse-schools-online.com/Images/charts/Where%20Nurses%20Work.jpg

– http://www.jacksonhealthcare.com/media/164537/nursestrendsreport_ebook0113_lr.pdf