This article is reprinted from the Speak Out Now healthcare newsletter at Kaiser and Highland Hospitals in Oakland, CA.
Every so often, hospital management gets the bright idea that they can save money by threatening workers over their use of “incremental overtime.” This is the type of overtime that accrues when you clock in two minutes early so that you can put away your belongings, and be ready and attentive at the start-of-shift huddle. This is also the 5 minutes you stay late to make sure your charting is complete, or to do a neuro exam on a stroke patient with the oncoming shift, or to help your patient back to bed from the commode. Rather than budget for the occasional few minutes extra to allow us to adequately care for our patients, management threatens disciplinary action when our time cards include even a moment of incremental overtime. Inevitably these hyped-up threats taper off as management realizes that no amount of discipline can stop healthcare workers from spending the time needed to take care of their patients.
If we’re looking for ways to save money, how about we add up the countless hours of overtime that are paid out for extra shifts when we’re perpetually short-staffed. Or how about the cost of depending on expensive travel nurses instead of hiring permanent staff. Or if you really want to save a buck, what if we consider how much we spend on all these managers who seem to have nothing better to do but threaten the people busy doing the work.
Click here to read the article printed in the 09-03-25 Healthcare Newsletter
