Are Your Nurses Volunteering to Float? Hospitals Using Concerro Program See Big Increase in Non-Home Unit Shift Selection

Awareness and Choice Fuel Self-Directed Floating and More Efficient Use of Internal Resources

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--San Diego-based Concerro, Inc., the market leader in enterprise-wide open shift and workforce management software, is observing a significant staffing trend across its customer base. Nurses using the program are volunteering to fill open shifts on non-home nursing units at a growing rate, a phenomenon the company has dubbed “self-directed floating.” Long considered undesirable to work or “float” outside of one’s assigned nursing unit, self-directed floating represents a significant cultural shift in nurse thinking, attitude and behavior.

“Qualified individuals are free to request to work on different units, or even at a different hospital in a health system, resulting in a more efficient use of internal resources and reduction in the need for costly contract labor or overtime.”

Data analyzed across Concerro’s customer base for 2008 indicate that approximately 25% of open shift RN hours filled by non-float pool staff were worked by RNs outside their home units. The same metric for non-RNs was 40%. The average Concerro client gained an equivalent of 11 RN FTEs and 12 non-RN FTEs covering shifts in non-home units. The results from the analyses and a discussion of contributing factors driving the rise in self-directed floating are highlighted in the May issue of RN Magazine in an article titled, “Self-directed Floating: Nurses Are Accepting its Benefits.”

“The Concerro Program provides shift transparency by offering a complete enterprise view of all shift needs from an Internet interface, allowing the existing workforce to help meet patient care needs when and where they are needed most,” said Graham Barnes, CEO of Concerro. “Qualified individuals are free to request to work on different units, or even at a different hospital in a health system, resulting in a more efficient use of internal resources and reduction in the need for costly contract labor or overtime.”

In recent months, St. Luke's The Woodlands Hospital (SLWH) in The Woodlands, TX has seen nearly 60% of their open shifts filled voluntarily by staff requesting to work shifts in other nursing units. By giving staff the ability to work in any unit where they are qualified, they can experience working in new areas and build professional credibility throughout the hospital.

“The Concerro Program offers a way for staff members to independently balance their work/life obligations while helping SLWH meet its staffing needs,” said Mona Tucker, director of human resources at St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital. “The program has increased nursing staff satisfaction significantly as evidenced by our latest NDNQI survey results, and serves to attract new staff in the community.”

About Concerro

Concerro is a Cloud Computing (Software-as-a-Service) company that provides web-based workforce management software and services which reduces labor costs, protects revenue, and improves staff and patient satisfaction in hospitals nationwide. In 2008 Concerro was recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of the 500 most rapidly growing privately-held companies in the United States. To learn more, visit www.concerro.com.