Nurturing the health and well-being of nurses is the theme of this year's National Nurses Week.
In pursuit of "The Balance of Mind, Body, and Spirit," the theme of this year's National Nurses Week, healthcare providers can engage precision scheduling through predictive analytics to support the well-being of nurses. Ensuring the health and happiness of staff is one of the most important things organizations can do to retain their skilled workforce and provide excellent patient care.
Nursing is a physically, mentally and emotionally demanding occupation. Typically working 12-hour shifts, nurses are constantly on their feet and moving between patient rooms and elsewhere on the unit. Not only physically exhausting, the emotional impact of caring for ill and high acuity patients can be a mental drain. While nurses love what they do, the toll this profession takes can easily leads to burn out.
Scheduling Problems Harm Morale
Staffing and scheduling are often the cause of nurse frustrations. Without the proper tools, scheduling staff to meet patient demand can involve a lot of guesswork. Inaccurate scheduling practices can leave a unit running short one day, asking staff to work extra or overtime, or calling in agency resources. Another day, even within the same week, core staff could be canceled because the unit has more resources than needed.
These scheduling problems, which can damage overall staff morale, can be relieved through data-driven scheduling solutions. Automating the scheduling process and utilizing predictive analytics to forecast future staffing needs up to 120 days in advance is a proactive approach to more accurate resource planning, alleviating a lot of stress on the nursing unit. Basing staffing predictions on historical census data and taking into account staff behaviors and demographic trends produces a forecast of staffing need that can be 97% accurate 30 days prior to the start of the shift.
Precision forecasting delivers valuable time back to managers so they can focus on patient care and mentoring their staff. It also improves morale by building a more stable schedule and reducing the instances of last-minute changes.
Precision Scheduling through Predictive Analytics
Employing best staffing practices also includes identifying the right amount of core and contingent staff for each unit. Every department should have the proper amount of core staff, properly layered with contingency staff to adjust to the ebb and flow of patient demand.
The right number of core staff is what keeps each person working to their FTE. Too many core staff results in frequent cancellations or floating, while too few increases overtime or an over-reliance on contract staff. Both situations can create an unstable and unpredictable work environment for staff, taking a toll on their physical well-being and possibly impacting the quality of care.
Healthcare executives and nurse managers are also concerned with how staffing affects the patient experience. Nurses who have a balanced schedule are more satisfied with their work, positively impacting the care they give patients and contributing to patient satisfaction.
With a growing number of uncertainties in healthcare, effectively leveraging the staff you have is a valuable approach to optimizing your workforce and providing quality, efficient care. Adopting predictive analytics and advanced labor management strategies helps to appropriately utilize staff, leading to improvements in morale and quality of care, while cutting labor costs. Approaching scheduling with a more strategic mindset is a valuable way for an organization to support the health and wellness of its staff.
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