Don Shrubshell photo

Anna Saathoff, a registered nurse at Boone Hospital Center, enjoys the flexibility of the hospital’s new “flex staffing” program, which allows part-time nurses to pick their own schedules and work on short-term, renewable contracts.

The shortage of experienced nurses has become a national epidemic. Nursing schools are producing fewer graduates than ever before, and young nurses have more options than ever.

Researchers estimate that the shortfall of nurses could rise to as high as 500,000 nationwide by 2025.

Boone Hospital Center and other medical employers in the area have been hit hard by this in recent years and have addressed their shortfalls by hiring more "travelers," or nurses who work through an agency and move around from hospital to hospital.

This summer, BHC finally said "enough" to the costly practice and decided to create its own pool of temporary nurses.

"It’s hard to think you’re paying a middle man that much for people you could have on staff," said Laura Noren, director of patient care services and one of the creators of the new program.

In August, Boone Hospital Center began its "flex staffing" program, which allows part-time nurses to pick their own schedules and work on short-term, renewable contracts. The pay is higher - $39 per hour compared to a typical range of $18 to $32 for full-time - but no benefits are provided and the nurses must work a set number of "off shifts" that include nights and weekends.

Hospital leaders said they believe this method is the wave of the future when it comes to retaining nurses in a hyper-competitive market.

"The results have been fabulous," said Mary Beck, vice president of patient care services and a registered nurse.

"We thought it would take several months to ramp up to having 50-some people in a float pool, and we’ve gotten there within less than two months."

Beck said it was a matter of aggressively marketing the program and offering competitive salaries so the flex staffing program at Boone could be at parity with the agencies.

When that happened, she said, the nurses came from all over Mid-Missouri.

Among them is Anna Saathoff, a nurse and mother of five. Saathoff said she can’t work a full schedule and already gets her health care through her husband’s employer.

"Whenever they want to renew my contract, I’ll say, ‘OK,’ and I’ll do the usual" of 20 hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, she said.

"Or sometimes I say, ‘Actually, on this particular weekend I won’t be able to work,’ and they say, ‘No problem,’ and they construct the contract with that exception."

Saathoff said the situation works great because her husband watches the children on weekends while she works, allowing the couple to save money on child care. "If they told me I had to work full time or nothing, well, my family comes first, so I wouldn’t be able to work here," she said. "This is a godsend. It’s a blessing."

Beck said nurses are so in demand that hospitals have to cater to their needs. The nursing shortage only promises to get worse in upcoming years, she said, and hospitals will have to become more flexible to retain their talented staff.

"The average age of a nurse in a hospital now is 47 years old, and it’s a very physically demanding profession," she said. "So we have this impending worsening as all these baby boomers hit retirement."

Advertisement

Get your brain and body in shape. Food Wednesdays, Pulse Sundays and Sports daily. 13 weeks of everyday delivery for as little as 29¢ a day. Get the Tribune. Get a lot.