IU Health Bloomington (Ind.) is adding on-call requirements for nursing staff in its acute care and behavioral health units, a spokesperson confirmed to Becker’s Dec. 12.
Effective Dec. 28, unit nurses will be required to be on call for 12 hours every six weeks. Nursing leaders will determine the shifts after regular schedules are finalized, with assignments made via an equitable rotation. Nurses may be called in for a shift due to call-offs or increased census needs. The process also allows nurses the flexibility to trade shifts as needed.
Similar processes are already in place in the hospital’s emergency department and perinatal services units.
The staffing plan was developed by the hospital’s nursing advisory council over the summer.
“Engaging our front-line nurses in the advisory council was invaluable to developing a staffing plan that truly reflects the realities of patient care,” IU Health Bloomington Chief Nursing Officer Cynthia Herrington, DNP, MSN, said in a statement to Becker’s. “Their insight, experience and voice were essential — this work would not have been possible without them.”
The team will evaluate the staffing plan’s effectiveness using metrics tied to patient experience, workforce well-being, staffing operations and financial performance — including retention, turnover, engagement, burnout, coverage gaps, overtime and agency utilization. Financial measures such as labor costs and return on investment from staffing model changes will also be tracked.
The changes are part of the hospital’s broader effort to reduce reliance on agency staff and create a more stable, sustainable in-house nursing workforce.
Indianapolis-based IU Health is also offering registered nurses $30,000 sign-on bonuses and up to $10,000 in relocation assistance, according to its website.
“Our team is continually looking at ways we can improve for the better of our patients, team and community — investing in a strong nurse staffing plan is an essential part of this goal,” IU Health Bloomington Associate Chief Nursing Officer Angela Tritle, MSN, RN, told Becker’s.
Indiana Daily Student, IU Health’s student newspaper, first reported the staffing changes Dec. 7.
