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Full‐time work for nurses: employers’ perspectives
Author(s) -
BAUMANN ANDREA,
HUNSBERGER MABEL,
CREAARSENIO MARY
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of nursing management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.925
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1365-2834
pISSN - 0966-0429
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2834.2012.01391.x
Subject(s) - staffing , workforce , part time employment , government (linguistics) , nursing , health care , full time , business , focus group , nurse administrator , work (physics) , medicine , political science , medline , economic growth , marketing , economics , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , law , engineering
Aim To examine an employer response to a government employment policy, the Nursing Graduate Guarantee (NGG), over a 2‐year period (2008–2009 and 2009–2010). Background Healthcare organizations rely on a stable supply of nurses to meet their staffing needs. However, employment trends have indicated a propensity for part‐time employment. The NGG was created to stimulate full‐time employment of new graduate nurses in Ontario, Canada. Methods A mixed methods design was used, which included online surveys and focus groups. All healthcare providers ( n = 1198) were surveyed in 2008–2009 and 2009–2010. Each year, a sample of NGG employers participated in sector‐specific focus groups. Results Approximately 20% of potential healthcare employers participated in the NGG. Reasons for non‐participation included lack of awareness of the initiative and lack of full‐time jobs. Barriers to offering full‐time employment to new graduates included lack of full‐time vacancies and budget constraints. Conclusions Employers perceive flexible staffing practices as a way to contain personnel costs but often at the expense of a stable full‐time nursing workforce. Implications for Nursing Management This research contributes to an understanding of employers’ perspectives on full‐time hiring and participation in a government employment policy.