| Course | HCM-4060 Human Resources Management for Healthcare Organizations |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 6 |
| Paper type | Case study 6: compensation, benefits, safety and security |
| Length | About 892 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S. in Healthcare Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for HCM 4060 Module 6
New Hires Earn Almost What Ten-Year Aides Do: Fixing Pay Compression and Making a Nursing Center Safer to Work In
Student Name
B.S. in Healthcare Management, Thomas Edison State University
HCM-4060: Human Resources Management for Healthcare Organizations
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
New Hires Earn Almost What Ten-Year Aides Do: Fixing Pay Compression and Making a Nursing Center Safer to Work In
The Problem
To compete for nurse aides, Cape Shore, this course's composite Cape May County nursing facility, raised its starting wage from $18.50 to $21.50 an hour last year. The raise helped hiring, but it left the center's 40 experienced aides earning only slightly more than new hires; an aide with ten years of service earns about $22.60. Several long-serving aides have complained, and two have left for a competitor. At the same time, workers' compensation claims are rising: back injuries from lifting residents and injuries from residents with dementia who strike out during care account for most lost workdays. The HR director must recommend changes to pay, benefits and safety.
Question 1: What Is Pay Compression and Why Does It Matter?
Pay compression occurs when the pay differences between employees with different experience or skill become too small, often because starting rates rise faster than the pay of current staff (Flynn et al., 2022). At Cape Shore, a new aide and a ten-year aide are separated by about $1.10 an hour. The experienced aides train new hires, know the residents and handle the hardest assignments, so the compression sends a message that experience is not valued. It also creates a retention risk among exactly the people the center can least afford to lose, as the two recent departures show.
The textbook's approach to pay structure begins with internal equity, the relative value of jobs and experience inside the organization, and external competitiveness, how pay compares with the market. The center fixed the second by raising the starting wage but damaged the first.
Question 2: How Should the Pay Structure Be Rebuilt?
The HR director recommends a step scale for aides based on years of service, with the starting rate unchanged.
| Years of service | Aides | Current average rate | New step rate | Increase per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 1 | 30 | $21.50 | $21.50 | $0.00 |
| 1 to 2 | 14 | $21.60 | $22.00 | $0.40 |
| 3 to 5 | 12 | $21.80 | $22.75 | $0.95 |
| 6 to 9 | 8 | $22.10 | $23.50 | $1.40 |
| 10 or more | 6 | $22.60 | $24.25 | $1.65 |
For the 40 aides with a year or more of service, the increases cost about $79,250 a year at 2,080 paid hours each, or about $85,300 with employer payroll taxes. That is roughly a third of the $242,000 a year the center estimated it loses to aide turnover, so retaining even a few experienced aides who would otherwise leave would justify most of the cost. The scale also gives new hires a visible path, which supports retention from the first year.
Shift differentials should be reviewed at the same time. Evening and night shifts are hardest to staff, and the center pays a flat $0.50 more for both. Raising the differential to $1.00 for evenings and $1.50 for nights would cost about $49,600 and $52,600 a year at current staffing, but would make the shifts that most often fall to agency staff easier to fill. Benefits matter as well. Many aides decline the center's health plan because the employee share of the premium is high relative to their wages; tiering premium contributions by wage band would make coverage affordable for the lowest-paid staff, which the textbook notes is often valued as highly as a wage increase.
Question 3: How Can the Center Reduce Lifting Injuries?
Manual lifting of residents is one of the main causes of back injuries among nursing staff. Collins et al. (2004) evaluated a program in six nursing homes that combined mechanical lifting equipment, a zero-lift policy for high-risk transfers and worker training. Workers' compensation claims fell by about 61 percent, and the initial investment of about $158,600 was recovered in less than three years through savings of about $55,000 a year in workers' compensation costs. Cape Shore should adopt the same elements: a lift for every unit, a sling inventory, resident-specific transfer plans and training with competency checks, with unit champions to keep the practice going.
Question 4: How Should the Center Address Workplace Violence?
Violence from residents with dementia is not intentional in most cases, but it injures staff and must be managed. Federal guidance calls for a written violence prevention program built on leaders' commitment and staff involvement, a study of where and when incidents happen, controls that remove or reduce hazards, training, and records that allow evaluation (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 2016). New Jersey law also requires nursing homes to maintain violence prevention programs. At Cape Shore, incident data show that most aggression occurs during bathing and dressing, so prevention links to the dementia care training from Module 4: approaching residents calmly, adjusting routines to residents' preferences and working in pairs for residents with known aggression. The center should also make reporting easy and free from blame, offer support after an injury and track incidents monthly by unit and shift.
Conclusion
Raising the starting wage solved a recruiting problem but created pay compression that threatens the center's most experienced aides. A tenure step scale costing about $85,000 a year, higher shift differentials and more affordable health coverage restore internal equity and support retention. A safe patient handling program and a violence prevention program built on OSHA's guidelines will reduce injuries and their cost, completing a compensation and safety strategy that serves both staff and residents.
References
Collins, J. W., Wolf, L., Bell, J., & Evanoff, B. (2004). An evaluation of a "best practices" musculoskeletal injury prevention program in nursing homes. Injury Prevention, 10(4), 206-211. https://doi.org/10.1136/ip.2004.005595
Flynn, W. J., Mathis, R. L., Jackson, J. H., & Valentine, S. R. (2022). Healthcare human resource management (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2016). Guidelines for preventing workplace violence for healthcare and social service workers (OSHA 3148-06R). U.S. Department of Labor. https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/osha3148.pdf
Reading the HCM 4060 Module 6 assignment instructions
The last module of HCM-4060 covers compensation, benefits, safety and security and draws together objectives on diversity, the changing workforce, the connections among HR functions and applying HR law to realistic scenarios. Expect a case about pay fairness, benefit costs, injuries or violence in a healthcare setting. Gather the numbers the case provides, such as wage rates, headcounts and claim costs, because recommendations in this module are judged partly on whether they are priced and affordable, and use the final project to carry these ideas further. Price your recommendations with the case's own figures and state the assumptions you add. Gather wage and headcount data first.
Inside the HCM 4060 Module 6 example
The paper defines pay compression with the textbook, explains why it matters for retention, and builds a step scale shown in a table with headcounts and increases. Costs are calculated and compared with the turnover cost estimated in an earlier module. Differentials and benefits are reviewed with prices attached. Safety recommendations rest on a published program evaluation with its savings, and violence prevention follows OSHA's five elements, linked to the training plan from Module 4 to show how HR functions connect. The cost of the pay scale is compared with the cost of turnover estimated earlier, which makes the recommendation's value visible. Every recommendation carries a price. Each recommendation carries a cost and a source.
Reading the HCM 4060 Module 6 grading rubric
This final HCM-4060 case study is scored from 0 to 100. Mentors look for correct use of compensation concepts such as internal equity and pay compression, recommendations that are costed and compared with their benefits, and safety plans grounded in regulation and evidence. Showing how compensation, safety and training interact meets the course objective on the interdependence of HR functions. Clear organization by question, APA citations including government guidance, and careful writing complete a strong paper. Recommendations that fit the organization's budget and can be phased in over time score better than costly plans with no funding path. Mentors give credit when compensation and safety recommendations are connected to retention and quality outcomes rather than presented separately.
Common HCM 4060 Module 6 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Students often recommend raising everyone's pay without calculating the cost or explaining how the structure should look. Others treat workplace violence in dementia care as a security problem only, missing the training and care practices that prevent it. Price every recommendation, compare it with the cost of the problem, and connect safety to the clinical work. Our writers can prepare an HCM 4060 compensation and safety case study using your case's figures. Show the step scale or pay structure in a table so the mentor can check headcounts, rates and totals at a glance. Use OSHA guidance and published program evaluations to support safety recommendations instead of general claims.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More HCM 4060 and B.S. in Healthcare Management sample papers
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HCM 4060 Module 6 questions, answered
Where can I find a free HCM 4060 Module 6 sample paper?
The final Human Resources Management for Healthcare Organizations case study is reproduced above: pay compression fixed with a costed step scale, differentials and benefits reviewed, and safe patient handling and violence prevention planned.
What is pay compression?
A situation in which pay differences between more and less experienced employees become very small, often after starting rates rise faster than current employees' pay.
Do safe patient handling programs reduce injuries?
An evaluation in six nursing homes found workers' compensation claims fell by about 61 percent after lifting equipment, a zero-lift policy and training were introduced.
What does OSHA recommend for workplace violence prevention in healthcare?
Five elements: leadership commitment with staff involvement, analysis of where incidents occur, hazard controls, training, and records used to evaluate the program.
What is the HCM-4060 final project?
A paper on a current human resources issue in healthcare organizations and the improvements an organization could make, worth 20 percent of the grade.