Nursing vacancies
The Daily Record compiled Morris County overtime and salary records from 2006 through the end of July 2008. The data is available at the Data Universe link on the newspaper's Web site, dailyrecord.com.
Some workers have been making more money in overtime wages than they make in annual salary.
That occurs at the county-owned Morris View nursing home because there are nursing vacancies in a facility that has minimum staffing requirements and operates continuously, said Edward Facas, director of the department of senior, disability and veterans services, which oversees Morris View. There is a nursing shortage in the medical field in general, he added.
The nursing home is short 12 nurses.
The three Morris View employees who have earned the most overtime in the past three years are assistant head nurse Rufina B. Gonzales, nurse supervisor Herminia Grajo Fudot and licensed practical nurse Cecelia Ugwa.
In 2006, Ugwa earned $85,894 in overtime in addition to an annual salary of $50,138. Gonzales earned $85,075 in overtime plus an annual salary of $67,224, and Fudot earned $62,513 in overtime along with an annual salary of $75,950.
In 2007, Ugwa made $76,006 in overtime with a $52,144 salary; Gonzales earned $77,787 in overtime on top of a $69,934 salary; and Fudot made $58,256 with a $78,988 salary.
In 2008, through July, Ugwa made $25,386 in overtime on top of a $54,230 salary; Gonzales earned $24,205 in overtime with a $72,731 salary; and Fudot made $25,332 in overtime on top of $82,148 in salary.
The employees mentioned in this story were either unavailable or declined to talk about their pay.
Facas said the three nurses are among the most senior employees at the facility and therefore have the first chance at overtime. They also are among the highest-paid workers and, as night shift workers, by contract, receive a pay differential.
Facas said new management at Morris View -- Premiere Healthcare Resources of Plymouth Meeting, Pa., which has managed the facility since January -- has taken several steps to rein in overtime costs, but one long-standing issue won't be addressed until talks about a new contract begin in the fall.
The current contract has a weekend staffing policy that results in considerable overtime, Facas said. Workers receive stipends for night and weekend work. They also are required to have every other weekend off, leading to short staffing on weekends and the need for overtime. Tighter management has reduced overtime shifts, he said, but that issue will not be changed until contract talks begin.
Still, he said, overtime costs at Morris View, which now has 273 residents, have dropped $600,000 since 2006.
County records show that total overtime wages have been dropping. In 2006, total overtime pay was $6.1 million, and in 2007, $5.7 million. In 2008, through July, overtime totaled $3.2 million, and if it continues at that rate, about $457,000 a month, the annual total for this year would be approximately $5.4 million.
That drop comes as the county has reduced its total employment by 229 workers, to 2,113, since 2005. Bonanni said that having fewer workers sometime necessitates overtime.(source)
Vocational nurse training-Vocational nurse job
Licensed Vocational Nurse Salary in California
Vocational Nursing schools in California
Vocational Nursing schools in Texas |
