For Karen Schaefer, working only 29 hours a week is a full-time job.
That’s because for the 29-year-old nurse at Providence’s Miriam Hospital, it’s a schedule that allows her to work on hospital committees, continue her education, and even pick up additional working hours when she wants. The part-time schedule also includes a benefit package that mirrors that of a full-time worker.
The only difference between her 29 hours, and the 40-hours of a full-time worker Schaefer said is "a little bit of money and a lot of flexibility."
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"When I first graduated from school two years ago, I chose to work part time so I could have a more flexible schedule," she said. "I went back and forth about the decision in the beginning because I knew I wanted to be involved in other things like hospital committees, and research projects. From what other nurses had told me, I wouldn’t have been able to do it working full time."
Flexibility is something many nurses in the local work force are looking for, and getting. According to the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, more than half (56 percent) of the 8,522 registered nurses that renewed their license in 2001 said they worked part-time.
Rebecca Burke, vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer at Miriam, said about 65 percent of the hospital’s nursing staff works part time. And, she said, the number grows steadily each year.
"We are finding that even the new graduates, who had in the past worked full time, don’t want to work full time now," she said. "The trend is definitely towards part-time nursing."
What’s driving it? According to Burke, and Linda McDonald, president of the
United Nurses & Allied Professionals, it’s a combination of economics and
the current working environment.
"It has always been a part-time population, but we are seeing the percentages increase because of working conditions," McDonald said of the local nursing profession. "With nurses feeling fatigued and frustrated with the work environment, you will find them working part time."
Cathy E. Boni, senior vice president of the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, said the trend toward part-time nursing work is fueled by a large number of nurses not wanting to work in acute-care facilities, among other factors.
"There is not a current shortage of RNs, there are plenty of licensed RNs, there is just a shortage of RNs that want to work at the bedside," she said.
And with the country facing a catastrophic nursing shortage in the coming years, Burke said the expectation is for the part-time trend to continue.
"There needs to be more creative and flexible shift ideas," she said. "We are going to have to fix working environments to be more attractive with wages and benefits so that you will see nurses wanting to pick up more hours."
"In my opinion I would prefer to have more full-time people because it provides a continuity of care to the patient," she said. "I would like to have more of a balance between full-time and part-time (workers). To do that we have to become more flexible, because flexibility is what we need to attract and retain nurses."
