Savings sharing: rewarding staff for responsible decision-making.

Shortages of professional nurses create a "buyer's market" in which nurses accept temporary assignments for the highest rates and offer little additional time to the primary employer. Use of temporary personnel use salary dollars at an inordinate rate while offering little continuity or support for the organization's standards. Methods for placing decision-making in the hands of the nurses are needed along with a reward system for establishing a pattern of sound decision-making. The author describes a savings sharing program that is gaining credibility in one organization for addressing both objectives.