Country Hospital, Goldfields, Western Australia

In the Goldfields, an experienced nurse is having difficulties with her son moving into high school and her husband working extra overtime on the minesite.

Every roster she asks for a shift change and the nurse manager disputes the need, whilst the other nurses perceive her taking the ‘best’ shifts and getting ‘special’ treatment.

A creative solution is to remove this nurse from the ward roster and add her to a central nursing pool roster, coordinated by a manager committed to work-life balance philosophy. The nurse’s skills are documented and her unique “times-available-for-work” identified.

Innovative Solution

• This long serving nurse is offered a permanent contract with an agreed number of hours.
  (Not casual, not minimal hours with a possibility of more, but the number she requires.)
• The nurse attends work as contracted, and when her skills match, is able to respond to ward calls for ‘an extra pair of hands’ (previously filled by agency staff)

Benefits

• The nurse is pleased to get the shifts her family circumstances require (without loss of income)
• The ward staff are pleased that their occasional roster requests get priority over her regular requests, and that their ward is not short-handed
• The ward manager is pleased to have access to skilled staff without high agency costs
• The hospital is pleased not to lose the years of experience this dedicated nurse has acquired
• The community is pleased that it retains a skilled miner (no longer upset at his wife’s loss of income as a sandwich maker in this town)
• The school and police are pleased they do not have to deal with an out-of-control teenager (as both parents are now available to supervise)