 March 2004 Food For Thought ********************************************** Tech Talk The Latest in Scheduling Systems " It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." " Aristotle Jane needs the next four Wednesdays off for a cooking class. Pat is hosting a candle party and has invited half the staff. Two other nurses want Saturday night off, but the only suitable back-ups already have 10 hours of overtime racked up. Do these scheduling nightmares sound familiar? We're willing to bet they do" nursing unit scheduling is one of the most complex administrative tasks in healthcare. Keeping nurses happy is a key element when factoring the success of a healthcare system. Shortages, high turnover rates and a competitive market for nurses' skills, all play a stake in the healthcare field. Providing tools so that staff can take a greater part in their own schedules is a great way to address these issues as well as helping your organization save the time, money and costs associated with conventional scheduling. Traditionally, nursing schedules have been handled unit-by-unit and crafted on paper. Not only is this time consuming, but due to fragmentation and limited visibility, this type of scheduling provides a greater likelihood for mistakes to occur. For example, a manager may cover a vacant spot in a shift by using an expensive agency, not knowing that a unit down the hall is sending staff home early. Replacing your "home grown" scheduling system may not be in the cards, however you should consider the many advantages these news types of software can provide, should you need/want this type of tool in the future (some resources and examples are provided at the end of this article). Benefits of New, High Tech Scheduling " Helps increase employee satisfaction by providing electronic access to schedules, allowing them to find their own shift-swap candidates and to request extra shifts in advance. " Standardizes scheduling practices across the organization, but still allows managers to add department-specific rules about shift-change requests. " Most systems can access time and attendance data, providing crucial information for managers making scheduling decisions or handling additional requests. " Can match assignments according to qualifications and seniority. A good automated system checks for skill levels, allowing managers to see what cost effects or conflicts could surface from scheduling the wrong person. " Can automatically generate gross payroll information " Can easily identify staffing shortages " Has the ability to transfer worked hours and rates electronically to payroll software For More Information: If you're interested in seeing a preview or want more information on this type of software, you can visit: Celayix Software http://www.celayix.com/etimeindustrysolutions.htm MSI Software for Hospital Staffing http://www.msisoftware.com/ |