Illustrations by Malcolm Garris/PhotoDisc

The story Jean Sheerin Coffey, MSN, RN, tells about her employment history that could easily be told by thousands of other health professionals who have worked part time while raising children, continuing their education, or working in another profession.

For half of her 20 years as a nurse, Coffey worked part time while raising three children—born one year apart—and earning a BSN and later an MSN. Now the mother of three teen-agers, she is once again working full time as the nurse leader of children’s health services at Fletcher Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vermont.

Historically, hospitals have used more part-time workers than other employers. After all, hospitals are unusual: They’re open seven days a week, 24-hours a day, and the work requires staff members to be on site, said Ken McDonnell, research analyst at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

The fluctuating patient census—combined with shortages of experienced nurses in some areas—means nursing administrators and recruiters need to be creative in developing staffing methods. At Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, the neonatal intensive care unit has a high census six months of the year, said Pamela Jordan, MS, RN, recruitment manager of nursing. In response, Parkland has just launched a new part-time staffing schedule that allows nurses to work 80-hour two-week pay periods for half the year and have the remainder of the year off. Jordan said the six-on six-off schedule is being offered only to nurses, but may be expanded to some allied health professions in the future.

Working part time gave Coffey time with her growing family, but she was also committed to staying current with nursing. She credits a nurse working in her obstetrician’s office with steering her toward that commitment. "I was pregnant with my first child, and she knew I was working full time as a nurse. She told me, ‘Don’t ever give up nursing altogether. It is harder to get back into it,’ " Coffey said.

To stay current on practice, Coffey worked as a nurse giving direct patient care, even if it was only one day a week. She read nursing journals and volunteered at an American Lung Association asthma camp. She thinks those experiences helped make her a competitive job candidate and smooth her transition back to full-time work.

The latest figures from the Division of Nursing at the Health Resources and Services Administration show an increase from 1992 to 1996 in the proportion of RNs working full time. Fifty-nine percent of the 2.5 million nurses in 1996 were working full time, compared to 57 percent of the 2.2 million nurses in 1992. But analysts hastened to add that one study doesn’t indicate a trend.

It is also impossible to nail down the number of hours that classifies a health professional as a part-time worker. When responding to questions on a Division of Nursing’s survey, facilities used their own definitions for part time. The number of hours a part-timer can work varies widely from facility to facility, and in a quick survey of several facilities throughout the country, the number varied between 40 and 70 hours per two-week pay period.

Increasingly, nurses work part time by choice, not because full-time work is unavailable. Carol Robinson, MPA, RN, associate director of hospital and clinics, patient care services, at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center in Sacramento, says it’s easier now for experienced nurses to shift from part to full time if they want to. The rosy economy is allowing some nurses to work part time to be with their families while knowing that if they want to, they probably can increase their hours, Robinson said.

Part-time work allows many healthcare professionals to pursue other careers while bringing in a steady income. In fact, a 1995 government survey shows several health professions exceed the 6 percent national average for people holding more than one job. Almost 10 percent of nurses, 23 percent of physician assistants, and 9 percent of health technologists and technicians work more than one job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Nurses, PAs, and techs working more than one job are less likely to do so for economic reasons than people in other professions that have a high percentage of moonlighters. Then why do they do it? Because they can, say labor analysts.

Flexible work schedules allow health workers to take a second job, and few of those jobs are in their main profession, according to the 1995 labor data. Of those who moonlight, only 6 percent of RNs, 10 percent of PAs, and 6 percent of technologists and technicians have second jobs in their main profession.