Salary Survey Results-Do you know what benefits are valued in your program?
Salary Survey Results-Do you know what benefits are valued in your program?
Do you think that you're making your staff happy offering them bonuses and life insurance as part of their benefits package? You'd be better off offering them some freedom to choose their work schedule and tuition reimbursement, according to the most recent Same-Day Surgery Salary Survey Results.
The salary survey was mailed in December 1999 to 1,333 subscribers. There were 70 responses, for a response rate of 5.25%. Respondents ranked the following benefits as important or extremely important:
• 401K or other savings plan (90.9%)
• medical coverage (88.4%)
• dental coverage (69.1%)
• pension plan (66.7%)
• some freedom to choose work schedule (59.7%)
• tuition reimbursement (58.2%)
• annual or semi-annual bonus (54.5%)
• life insurance (50.7%)
The high ranking of freedom to choose a work schedule indicates that lifestyle and family is more important than possessions to much of today's work force, says Cheryl Dendy, RN, director of St. John Surgery Center in St. Clair Shores, MI. These values are particularly true among the younger work force, she emphasizes.
"People aren't real motivated by income in that age group today," she says. Many younger staff have seen their parents work hard and have decided that for themselves, less income is acceptable, she says. (For information on managing Generation X, see story, p. 16.)
However, most SDS salary survey respondents (72%) fell into the 41 to 55 age range. Most (35.3%) work 41 to 45 hours a week or 46 to 50 hours a week (33.8%). Forty percent have worked 25 or more years in health care. (See chart, above.)
Many same-day surgery administrators and high level managers are tired, Dendy says. In fact, "they're worn out. Health care is a hard field to be part of." For those managers, some freedom to choose work schedule offers a welcome break.
Tuition reimbursement also scored high as a benefit among respondents to the SDS salary survey. This ranking reflects the changing technology and increasing expectation for new kinds of competencies, such as patient education, says Marjorie Beyers, RN, PhD, FAAN, executive director of the American Organization of Nurse Executives in Chicago. "Nurses need to keep their education up to date. Tuition would make a lot of sense in that perspective."
Directors and administrators also are returning to school. Many, such as Dendy, are studying business. "As administrator, looking at the financial components of the facility is what I need ability to have better understanding of," she says.
A clinical and business degree make a good partnership, Dendy adds. "It helps you to be more diversified," she says.
In terms of salaries, although many readers report a shortage of nurses and nurse managers in the OR, salary increases aren't necessarily reflecting that shortage. The highest percentage of SDS readers (38.2%) report a salary increase of 4% to 6%. (See chart, p. 1.)
"The salaries aren't jumping leaps and bounds, even though there's a shortage," explains Pat Niederlitz, CHRM, program manager of the Opportunity AORN Employment and Consulta-tion Services, part of the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN) in Denver. "It's nothing like what you might have expected."
Luckily, most respondents to the SDS salary survey (58.5%) have seen the number of employees in their facility or department increase.
"The reason, in most cases, is that nurses who want to depart a hospital setting find the ambulatory setting more conducive to their lifestyle: with weekends off and no call," Niederlitz says.
OR managers can find lateral and horizontal opportunities because they often are expert clinicians, well organized, and function well under stress, Beyers says.
Dendy has found the opportunity to consult on the side, as do many same-day surgery managers. "I built three facilities, and I'm in the planning process for a fourth," she says.
With the loosening of certificate of need requirements across the country, many new facilities are being organized, she says. "The need for consulting is going to be fairly significant over the next five to six years as we see more of a shift into the outpatient setting," she says.
SDS managers have the opportunity to consult in several areas, including designing, staffing, budgeting, and developing cost per case. Also, for the managers with strong experience in information systems, there are opportunities to work with companies that are developing systems for outpatient surgery, Dendy says. "If you love outpatient surgery, it's an exciting and challenging time. There's a lot of opportunity there." n
For more information on same-day surgery salaries, contact:
• Marjorie Beyers, RN, PhD, FAAN, Executive Director, American Organization of Nurse Executives, One North Franklin St., 32th Floor, Chicago, IL 60606. Telephone: (312) 422-2801. Fax: (312) 422-4503. Web: www.aone.org.
• Cheryl Dendy, RN, Director, St. John Surgery Center, 21000 12 Mile Road, St. Clair Shores, MI 48081. Telephone: (810) 447-5015. Fax: (810) 447-5011. E-mail: [email protected].
• Pat Niederlitz, CHRM, Program Manager, Opportunity AORN Employment and Consultation Services, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses, 2170 S. Parker Road, Denver, CO 80231. Telephone: (303) 755-6304. Fax: (303) 750-3462. E-mail: ptn@aorn. org. Web: www.aorn.org.
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