Factors and Costs Associated With the Use of Registered Nurse Overtime in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Previous studies have focused on factors associated with between hospital and unit variation of RN overtime in adult hospitals. However, those factors are not under the direct control of the manager. Factors associated with overtime and under the control of management include the total number of RN employed by the unit and absent nurses. Also the using a mix of RN on regular 8 and 12 h shifts can help offer better coverage by maintaining a more regular work-schedule. To the authors’ knowledge, no study has addressed these factors on a shift-to-shift basis in the NICU.
The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with variations in the use of registered nurse (RN) overtime within the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from shift-to-shift to shift and assess the impact of a bundle of interventions to reduce RN overtime. Second, we aimed to assess if the implantation of the bundle resulted in cost reductions in patient care.
In most cases this represented a nurse who either started her shift (8 or 12- hour shift) earlier or finished it later than scheduled and which amounted to a maximum of 16 consecutive hours. Overtime also occurred if a nurse worked above 37.5 hours per week.
Based on empirical and logical considerations, we chose to assess the association between non-modifiable (shift, day of the week, month, unit occupancy, admissions, patient acuity) and modifiable factors (paid hours not at the bedside, impact of changes implements in June 2012) on the one hand, and RN overtime, on the other hand.
Pediatr Neonatal Nurs Open J. 2016; 4(1): 17-23. doi: 10.17140/PNNOJ-4-125
