staffing Flashcards
Why is scheduling hard to do in nursing rt the business model?
Nursing business model is not the same as traditional model due to 12 hr shifts
What about the nature of nursing makes it hard to schedule?
The nature is unpredictable and erratic
And, you need to have a high level of expertise
What does the stress of nursing require?
It requires a work-recreation balance
What is staffing based on?
Acuity and personnel skills
Decentralized staffing
manager controls staffing and staff can make requests and therefore can free up autonomy for staff who need days off
its not cost effective and encourages favoritism
Centralized staffing
Not up to manager so to speak since there are policies
More cost effective and takes stress off manager
Its less flexible for workers and managers don’t pay attention to budget
Weekend work recieves___
premium pay
Weekend and holidays do ___
part time staffing pool
Cyclical staffing
Allows a set pattern as repeated every few weeks
shift bidding
nurses bid for their shift rather than do mandatory time
Staffing policies
sick leave vacations holidays call offs on call tardiness and absenteeism
What are scheduling alternatives?
agency and travel nurses flextime self-scheduling float pools - these guys need to be competent tho
Staffing by acuity
Means to group patient according to characteristics
- some are needier than others and require more hours of nursing care
Unique to a specific institution
Internal or external forces can affect unit influence
Literature that explains staffing issues
The less RN’s work, the better patient outcomes in
- med errs
- falls
- pt satisfaction w pain management
Understaffing
the decision to do this can’t violate state and federal labor laws and the policies of the organization
don’t want fatigued staff
need to find solutions both long and short term
Patient care must not be jeopardized
