If you view per diems as warm bodies to putty the holes in your schedule, you're missing out on a great staffing solution. Make per diem workers feel welcome and valued, and you'll increase their productivity and dedication to your facility. Here are six easy ways to do just that.

1. Don't be frugal. Even though a flexible schedule is often as important to per diems as a paycheck, don't lowball them with an insulting hourly rate. Depending on experience, I recommend paying per diems even more than your full-time employees to compensate for the lack of health benefits and to demonstrate your commitment to them.

2. Let them earn paid time off. Granted, per diems won't accrue many hours, but this is a wonderful perk to provide.

3. Respect their schedules. Keep in your office a calendar for per diems to record the days they can work a month in advance. Schedule them only on those days; never on days they haven't made themselves available. Per diems will be the first to leave when the schedule permits and aren't guaranteed hours; for example, you may only need them from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to cover full-time employees' breaks and lunches. If you're expecting them to be comfortable with chaos, the least you can do is respect when they're available to work.

4. Treat them like family. Invite part-timers and their families to staff dinners and holiday parties, and include them in sunshine funds (staff collections for birthday cakes and cards or flowers). I can't tell you how appreciative a per diem will be if she's greeted on her brithday with a cake and a lounge full of singing nurses.

5. Keep them informed. Social perks are great, but make sure you also have a mechanism in place for keeping per diems informed of new policies, in-service training and staff meetings. Tape-recording staff meetings lets per diems listen on their own time. Keep a sheet handy for them to sign once they've reviewed the audio playback (this also works well for full-time staff who were sick, off or on vacation). If you made policy changes at a meeting, have per diems sign off on hard copies of the new policy.

6. Ask for their perspective. I view per diems as secret shoppers, and often rely on their fresh perspective to clue me into things I don't notice because I've been in the same environment for so long. Ask per diems for ideas on improving your facility's daily operations. Because they're not in your center often, they can observe problems or issues that you don't see. They also may work at a few different facilities and can provide insight into how other managers handle a particular issue you're facing.

Valuable returns
In many centers, per diem work is the entry level to regular part-time or full-time employment. The center and the per diem can try each other out for fit and comfort, and if a regular job opens up, they're trained and ready to step in.

Also remember, per diem employees are not just nurses. I've worked with surgical techs, instrument aides, nursing assistants and radiology techs who filled these roles beautifully. If you make per diems feel important and valued, they will return that feeling to you and your facility through their efforts and sense of ownership.