Employee compensation plans and design strategies

Human Resources Pay Package

Employee Compensation Plan

Target Job: Registered Nurse (RN) in a Hospital

Hillcrest Hospital is a 496 bed hospital located in Mayfield Heights, a Cleveland Ohio Suburb. Hillcrest is ranked in the nation's top 100 in cardiac care. It is part of the Cleveland Clinic system. The mission of the hospital is to provide nationally ranked healthcare to the surrounding community. It holds clinical excellence, safety, ethics, integrity, individual responsibility, respect for diversity and caring for others as key tenets (Hillcrest Hospital, 2012a). Its vision is to service as an example of state-of-the-art medical facility in every department that delivers consistent high quality service to Northeast Ohio (Hillcrest Hospital, 2012b). The Cleveland Clinic system is one of the best renowned systems in the nations in a number of specialties in which they operate.

Hillcrest Hospital strives to put their patients first and looks for enthusiasm in employees. They have high expectations from their employees and strive to hire those that are passionate about serving the needs of their patients. In an attempt to attract the best in the industry, Cleveland Clinic offers an excellent benefits package. They offer excellent health, dental, and vision plans. They also offer paid time off, tuition programs, and top rated pension plans (Hillcrest Hospital, 2012c).

The target job chosen will be that of an RN. Many types of RNs exist and they can specialize in an almost endless number of specialties within their general job category. Although several job characteristics are common to many RN jobs, many specialties exist within the general category of RN. The target job will be that of a general RN. The two anchor jobs will be that of an Ambulatory Care RN and that of an Oncology RN. These job categories were chosen due to the anticipated job growth in the next decade and beyond. Nursing and the healthcare industry will form an increasingly important part of the economy. Demand for nurses will grow as the population ages.

Part II: Job Description and Specification

A job analysis was conducted for the RN target job. The analysis involved general floor nurses, rather than those that operated in a specialty capacity. The analysis was conducted through a review of relevant literature including information from the U.S. Department of Labor, and existing job descriptions for the RN position from Hillcrest. This was compiled with information from other hospitals. In addition to these methods, interviews were conducted with RN floor nurses to determine the most common duties performed during their work day. SMEs chosen included supervisors and those in an administrative position regarding the nursing staff. This method produced a job description that allowed the most common job tasks to be identified. The results of the analysis are presented in the following job description.

RN Job Specification

Part A: Identification

Job Title: Registered Nurse

Relationships: Work with co-workers in a non-competitive manner. Develop meaningful relationships with the patients and their families.

Reports to: Nurse Supervisory Staff and other Administrative Staff

Supervises: Nurse Aides, LPNs, LVN, and volunteers

Internal relationships (other positions that this position regularly works with): Physicians, Nurse-Practitioners, LPNs, LVNs,. STNAs, laboratory and diagnostic personnel

External relationships (customers, vendors, etc...): Patients and their families. The RN typically does not interact with outside vendors, with the exception of contracted individuals in a specialty care position such as occupational therapy.

Part B: Job Summary

RNs treat patients according to the treatment plan, work with physicians to revise the treatment plan, educate the family and patient at their diagnosis. They take medical histories and symptom histories. They help to perform diagnostic tests and analyze the results. They educate the public on health practices. They maintain intravenous lines and operate various medical machinery. They administer medications, record observations of patients, assist with physical therapy, provide emotional support and advise patients.

Part C: Responsibilities & Duties

Duties and responsibilities of the RN vary according to specialty. The duties of the floor RN may include, but will not be limited to the following.

• Maintenance of reports and records

• Order and interpret diagnostic tests

• Modify patient treatment plans according to patient response

• Supervise less-skilled nursing personnel

• Consult and coordinate with other healthcare team members to assess and implement a treatment plan

• Monitor all aspects of patient care

• Instruct patients and families on health improvement and the specifics of the patients condition and treatment.

Part D: Specifications (Qualifications)

RNs must be licensed and certified according to the requirements of their state. This includes a minimal educational requirement passage of the National Council Licensure Examination or NCLEX-RN. This assures that the nurse meets at least the minimum requirements. In addition to educational and licensure requirements the nurse must be caring and sympathetic, responsible and detail oriented.

Part III: Job Evaluation

The four compensable factors used for this analysis are skills, working conditions, responsibility, and work complexity. Skills are defined as the mental and physical skills required to perform he job. For the RN, these include the ability to lift patients, stand for long periods of time and assist patients with diagnostic tests. Working conditions include long hours and the potential for injury due to the physical demands of the job. Working conditions also include exposure to communicable diseases. Responsibility of the RN job is tremendous. Their patients depend on them. The RN holds the patient's life and recovery outcome in their hands. RNs have a high level of work complexity. They must perform a high level of analysis and interpret test results. They must perform many tasks with great skill. Of these factors, work complexity has the highest weight value, responsibility is the next highest weight. These are followed by skills and working conditions

Part IV: Market Survey

Salary data for the market survey was collected through a search of jobs that are currently open in various parts of the Midwest. It was noted that salaries in or near large cities, such as Cleveland were higher than those in small rural hospitals. RNs working in nursing homes and long-term care facilities made considerably less that those working in hospitals. Therefore, only salaries for RNs working in Cleveland area hospitals were considered. In addition, RNs working in specialty clinics and fields had considerably higher salaries than general RNs within the system. Data was only collected for those in the general RN category. The salaries found were as follows:

Low -- $54,000

Midrange -- $66,000

High - $78,000

Part V: Pay Structure

A regression analysis of the market data collected revealed that pay grades for RN were between 530 and 950. The key factors were type of degree and years of experience in determining the pay grade. The following payscale was derived by regression analysis of the market payscales attained.