Experience with staffing alternatives in a pediatric teaching institution.

Staffing alternatives and recruitment and retention strategies used by the pharmacy department of a pediatric teaching hospital are described. In addition to overtime compensation, the following alternative strategies have been implemented: (1) use of contingent or "on-call" personnel, (2) coverage by management staff, (3) use of temporary agencies, (4) review of ongoing activities, and (5) use of supportive personnel. All these strategies have been effective in compensating for shortages by supplying qualified individuals on an as-needed basis, eliminating nonessential departmental activities, or delegating nonprofessional duties to technicians and other supportive personnel. Effective recruitment and retention strategies include scholarship and training programs, communication with pharmacy staff about management efforts to improve salary and practice opportunities, and insight into the nature of the local competition from chain and mail-order pharmacies. Use of alternate approaches to staffing has helped the pharmacy department at this institution maintain adequate staffing during periods of pharmacist shortages.