float pool top tips
SINKING THE BUDGET
Hospitals use emergency bonuses to fill shifts in emergencies, but some organizations play with fire when they use these bonuses to fulfill long-term needs. This drastically increases the risk of “baking in” premium pay into expenses. Worse still, staff members can become accustomed to bonus payments over the long term and, for example, purchase homes they could not afford otherwise.
This scenario should be avoided at all costs, as it disables the organization from making good choices in the long-term. While we won't get into the details here, one of our clients used emergency bonuses for so long that staff fully adapted to the increased income level, ultimately leaving them with no other choice than to place their hospital system up for sale. Then, when they were forced to remove the bonuses to support viability, some staff members lost their homes. It is a heartbreaking scenario.
Our goal in sharing stories like this is to prevent hospitals from this pitfall, as it is nearly impossible to course-correct without collateral damage once staff members become dependent on regular shift bonuses. Alternatively, a well-designed float pool and thoughtful management of seasonal volume fluctuations and vacancy management can set hospitals up for complete schedules and ultimate long term success.
#floatpool #bonusabuse #premiumpay #seasonaljobs #hospitaloperations #finance
PERMANENT STAFFING NEEDS
Successful float pools are designed to support permanent staffing needs, including daily call-outs and FMLA. However, many organizations also attempt to use their float pool to cover temporary staffing shortages, such as gaps created by seasonal volume fluctuations and vacancies. This misstep can cause your float pool to quickly drain resources needed to support daily staffing levels.
While seasonal volume fluctuations and vacancies are also critical to address, they require different strategies (such as hire ahead, flex plans, GN programs, etc.). Organizations who size float pools to address seasonal needs waste significant resources in low season. Make sure your float pool has a targeted strategy for each specific staffing need!
#floatpool #staffing #FMLA #seasonalworkers #healthcare #operationsmanagement #strategy #vacancies
THE RIGHT WAY TO RIGHTSIZE
How many shifts can you reliably fill each day/night with your float pool?
If you don’t know how many FTEs (not to be confused with headcount) are in your float pool, you might be at risk. If you only hire PRNs into your float pool, you are definitely at risk, as it is impossible to know the commitment level of your staff!
For your float pool to successfully meet the needs of your organization, you must first rightsize the float pool resources to accommodate regularly occurring day and night requests for supported departments. Remember, you’ll need a separate solution to cover irregular/temporary needs such as seasonal volumes and vacancies!
#floatpool #rightsizing #staffing. #operationsmanagement #scheduling #healthcare
IMPORTANCE OF GUARD RAILS
Some Float Pool best practices are so important that they ultimately determine the success or failure of the program. Perhaps the most frequent mistake we see is in not incentivizing or even requiring flexibility from the Float Pool team. To determine your Float Pool's flexibility, ask yourself these questions:
- Do we pay more to incentivize flexibility? Team members that will work during different shifts, for multiple departments, or at multiple locations
- Do we monitor this flexibility? Review shifts worked to take advantage of flexibility
- Do we hire full-time float pool staff? Or only PRNs with no commitment to us…
- For our full-time team members, do we review commitment (actual shifts worked)? 0.9 consistently working 3 12-hr shifts a week
Allowing Float Pool nurses to refuse to work in committed locations or shifts, while maintaining pay differentials drives staff dissatisfaction and increases avoidable labor spend.
#floatpool #healthcare #flexibility #guardrails#commitment #staffing #incentives #bestpractices #requirementmonitoring #shiftvariation
EFFICIENT REQUEST AND FILL
Your departments don't request Float Pool resources through email… right? If they do, requests are inevitably missed and reporting on time-to-fill, cancellations, fair assignments, and more are unavailable for review.
One of the most common frustrations leaders have with Float Pools is related to the request process. When department leaders send requests and never hear back, they commonly over-request resources in an attempt to super-prioritize their needs. When this happens, assignments may be perceived as unfair or biased. Once this begins, the float pool manager will have a very hard time rebuilding trust.
The solution is an efficient system for open shift request and assignment. Our team partners with organizations to assess, diagnose, and implement improved Float Pool solutions, including our tailored shift request and assignment tool from FlexSmart Solutions. Visit us at www.caracookconsulting.com to learn more.
#floatpool #healthcare #staffing #bestpractices #requestandfill #solutions #efficiency #equity #bias #fairassignment
FAIR ASSIGNMENTS
One particularly frustrating float pool challenge is the perception of favoritism. Requestors often perceive that "they always get the float pool resources, while we never get any!" This accusation makes float pool managers feel defensive, but it's important to consider - how do you prioritize placement?
Most hospitals assign based on request volume alone, which naturally gives an advantage to larger departments. However, leading practice float pools assign resources based on the percent of open shifts on the unit rather than request volume alone to prioritize patient care. They appreciate that 5 open shifts in a 6 bed ICU is more critical than 5 open shifts in a 50 bed ICU!
To ensure your float pool prioritizes shift assignments to areas with the greatest need, establish an equitable assignment methodology and regularly publish a float pool dashboard - or reach out to us for help at admin@caracookconsulting.com!
#floatpool #healthcare #staffing #favoritism #fairassignment #equity