is anyone else being laid off reduced hours etc?

starting about a month ago, management started making noises about how the new medicare regulations that take effect in jan 2015 are going to kill their profits. we got a steady stream of not-so-subtle hints that we would all be lucky to make it through. idk if it's even true about the new regs, or if they're using that as an excuse - 6 months in advance! - to get rid of staff to increase their profits. after all, they're currently building two brand new high-end facilities. if the company was really hurting for money, wouldn't they be closing facilities instead of opening new ones?

anyway. either way, they've started seriously reducing hours for everyone who is more costly - nurses with experience, BSN/MSN nurses, PRN nurses (including me), etc. and hiring lots of full time techs/aides and new grads (at ridiculously low salaries ). It looks like they're hoping the more expensive staff will leave if their hours are reduced enough.

i'm scared because i've been fence-sitting this entire year - i've been wanting to take the plunge and quit my day job and really go sink-or-swim with my business, but to be honest i'm kinda terrified of failure and of not having a paycheck so i couldn't bring myself to quit. it appears the universe/the free market/whatever is making the decision for me, since my company is basically getting rid of me. they hired a new grad LPN a month ago and since then i've had about 1/3 of the hours that i usually get.

is this a thing that's happening everywhere? is it happening in your workplace? if you're being made redundant or having your hours reduced, what are you doing about it? Last edit by ceccia on Jul 13, '14
Yup everywhere...I am afraid for the future when there willl be nothing but new grads and poorly trained old grads to care for me.

We haven't had any lay-offs per se, but there have been some "discontinuation of positions" in our hospital system as a whole. I understand that to mean that no-one has actually become unemployed, just "reassigned". Overtime is quickly becoming a thing of the past, and shift diffs are being reduced, as are other some other perks.I'm sorry to hear of your situation. Did your facility begin their expansion plans before these economic changes occurred this year? At any rate, good luck and best wishes.

Well, there's way of making things more "cost effective", and then there is the practice of not hiring new help at all and squeezing more and more workload and responsibility out of the current employees, which is where I'm at, and believe me, it's not fun either!I am an RN at an outpatient dialysis clinic. Not only have they gone to making the RN do the work of a dialysis tech so that they can cut tech hours, meaning that I have to set up machines and put a row of patients on and also be responsible for assessing and passing meds to two other rows of patients (there are four patients to a row), but when I am scheduled for one of our fun, new 14 hr. shifts......I have to be responsible for overseeing a total of 36 dialysis treatments a day. That is way too much responsibility for one RN. I do not want to get old or sick in this current healthcare environment...do you?

PRN nurses by definition are meant to be available when needed and there will be lulls when they have hired regular staff. How do you know they are specifically targeting BSN/MSN RN's if they are not PRN. Many places want pool nurses at the ready, but the dept managers prefer to use their own regular staff to save on their budget. If you are going to do pool you need to have either a second income or a large amount of savings stashed for the down times. Not my cup of tea, I prefer stability and security!Usually if there are layoff's it is because there is less demand such as less surgeries or procedures and now they want to save money and lay off staff. Many times staff has the option to be redeployed elsewhere in the system, though no guarantee plus forced to take the left over openings such as night shift.

Quote from brandy1017PRN nurses by definition are meant to be available when needed and there will be lulls when they have hired regular staff.

Census has been bursting through the seems at my workplace since the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. ObamaCare) was enacted into law.We've been on a hiring spree for the past few months to fill all the staffing voids. Shift cancellations now occur only once in a blue moon. However, starting in 2015 our PRN nurses who have been accustomed to full time hours will be forced to work no more than 30 hours per week due to the new law. They work PRN for the extra $9 to $12 per hour, but soon they will need to choose between accepting a full-time position for lower pay or contending with reduced PRN hours.

One of my PRN jobs just hired 5 or 6 new grad RNs. So I expect a reduction in hours in the next 2 months and will be looking for an additional PRN job. There may be 1 or 2 nurses leaving or going to a dayshift position.

Wow this makes me feel better about my decision to not go for an entry masters in nursing... I don't want to be OVER qualified amidst an environment of cutbacks and uncertainty

Quote from TheCommuterCensus has been bursting through the seems at my workplace since the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. ObamaCare) was enacted into law.We've been on a hiring spree for the past few months to fill all the staffing voids. Shift cancellations now occur only once in a blue moon. However, starting in 2015 our PRN nurses who have been accustomed to full time hours will be forced to work no more than 30 hours per week due to the new law. They work PRN for the extra $9 to $12 per hour, but soon they will need to choose between accepting a full-time position for lower pay or contending with reduced PRN hours.

ACA has helped some states while others have failed to utilize the Act to its fullest potential. Insurance coverages have changed with many people being forced into high deductible plans (outside of the ACA) and there has been a significant reduction in electable non emergent care and people are choosing to suffer because they can't afford the high deductible. Procedures once done in hospitals are now done in free standing facilities some of which do not have the regulatory burden that hospitals do thus moving both patients and jobs out of the hospital.

The OP's post sounds veeeerrry familiar to me. Our hospital built a brand new facility, during which time the fear mongering started with carefully orchestrated "letters from the CEO." "We want to save everyone's jobs, oh we do we really do! But we don't know if we can," and, "We the senior administration are having a meeting again this week (at xyz resort) to discuss how to save your jobs!"Then came the announcements of early retirement offerings: "You don't have to take the early retirement, but we can't guarantee you'll still have a position."Then came the mysterious disappearances of RN's with seniority. They went flying out the window like so many bits of confetti.Then came the massive hiring of new grads. Very young new grads.

Overall, US hospitals have (and are continuing to) experience declining census. The pundits are saying this is an indication that ACA is 'starting to work' - increased access to primary & preventative care leading to less inpatient admissions. A few years ago, many organizations in my neck of the woods adopted 100% flex staffing - so ALL departments are adjusting staffing to reflect current census. At the same time, productivity requirements have also been increased . . . fewer staff working harder.