Final answer:
The FTE for the staff nurse who works 28 hours a week (two 12-hour shifts and an 8-hour shift every other week) is 0.7 when compared to a full-time workweek of 38.6 hours.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine the full-time equivalence (FTE) of the staff nurse's position, we first calculate the total number of hours worked per week. The nurse works two 12-hour shifts per week, which totals 24 hours. Since the 8-hour shift occurs every other week, we average this to 4 hours per week (8 hours divided by 2). Adding these together, the nurse works 28 hours per week. In the United States, a full-time workweek averages 38.6 hours to 42.5 hours for full-time workers. Therefore, to find the FTE, we divide the nurse's weekly hours by the average full-time workweek.
Using the lower end of the full-time range, 28 divided by 38.6 equals approximately 0.725, which can be rounded to the nearest tenth as standard practice, resulting in 0.7.