Decline in patients cuts nurses' hours and jobs

Job vacancy rates at some Dayton-area hospitals are the lowest they've been in years, and nurse shortages—at least for now—have disappeared. In a sign of how much today's employment landscape for nurses has changed, Good Samaritan Hospital in recent weeks routinely told nurses to stay home just before their shifts were scheduled to begin. The hospital acknowledged its use of "flex time" has generated complaints from nurses, some of whom lost up to a third of their regularly scheduled hours during the holidays.