Originally published January 24 2006
Online auctions allow nurses to bid on shifts
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
BidShift auctions open nursing shifts to try and fill them with existing staff in the wake of the national nursing shortage. There are five types of bidding and nurses can bid on shifts and pay levels.
When hospitals have open nursing shifts, they do any number of things to fill them -- ask for volunteers, offer more money, beg.
San Diego-based BidShift offers hospitals a more efficient, and dignified, method.
JOHN GIBBINS / Union-Tribune Michele Barron, a triage nurse, logged on to the BidShift system at Sharp Grossmont Hospital.
BidShift provides hospitals online auction services to fill open shifts with existing staff.
The auctions take a number of forms, allowing nurses to bid on shifts and pay levels.
"The pain that managers have is being on the phone, begging people to work to just get a body in there," said Bruce Springer, president and chief executive officer of BidShift.
When hospitals cannot find staff to fill openings, they typically turn to more expensive temporary nurse staffing companies for bodies.
The reliance on temporary staffing companies is expensive for hospitals, and many are increasingly turning to companies like BidShift for help getting the most out of their staff.
Some operate like eBay auctions in reverse, with the hospital setting an initial price and nurses bidding against each other -- each offering to accept a lower pay rate.
Angela Athis, director of the staffing resource network at Sharp, said Sharp has saved money by cutting down on the use of temporary hires and increasing the ability to recruit staff.
Nancy Martin, 52, left a job at another hospital where she was working part time to work solely at Sharp Grossmont, where she had also been working part time because of BidShift.
Austin, Texas-based StaffBid and the First Consulting Group of Long Beach are also offering online auctions for nursing shifts.
Athis said she was hesitant to the concept at first, because it seemed it would pit employees against each other.
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