6 Rookie Mistakes Nurse Scheduling Software Helps You Avoid

July 25, 2019

Managing a nursing schedule for healthcare care organizations is no easy feat. It takes a lot of time and careful attention to detail. You must create the schedule, manage call-offs, fill shifts, track availability, monitor staffing targets, watch overtime, and fix time and attendance issues.

With all of this to keep track of, it’s easy for even the most detailed oriented person to make a mistake. And, unfortunately, a tiny bit of human error can make the entire nurse scheduling process inefficient. But it doesn’t have to be. Nurse scheduling software can ease the pressure of creating an error-proof schedule. Here are six common mistakes you’re making, and how nurse scheduling software can help you avoid them:

1. The Scheduling “Binder”

Pencil and paper are so antiquated. Get with the times and offer your staff 24/7 access to their schedule. It’s time to ditch the scheduling binder and time-off request calendar and get a web-based scheduling software solution. Look for a nurse scheduling software that updates in real time. With it, your staff will have access to their schedules anywhere from any device with Internet connection. That means they can also pick up shifts and respond to staffing requests instantly at any time.

2. Struggling to Get the Right Credentials In the Right Slot

Your scheduling software should allow you to define qualifications and experience required for each shift. The program will know if you need a certain number of nurses with certain credentials. You can add a rule to the self-scheduling software that requires only a couple of new nurses to work a shift or a certain number of experienced nurses to be on each shift. If they don’t have the right credentials, they can’t pick up that shift.

3. No Overall Organizational Freedom

Calm your nerves by viewing your schedule(s) all in one place. Nurse scheduling software means no more post it notes and emails to reconcile. The software tracks availability, time-off requests, overtime, and other pertinent information you currently have in notebooks and on spreadsheets that you look over for hours. The software streamlines the scheduling process and serves as a one-stop-shop for all things pertaining to your schedule.

4. Lack of Staff Accountability

Stop getting caught in a “he said, she said” situation. Nurse scheduling software allows you to hold your staff accountable to their traded shifts and pickups with time-stamped documentation. In addition, with 24/7 access, there is never an excuse for an employee to not know when they are supposed to be at work.

5. Not Optimizing Your Staff

Scenario: A nurse who is supposed to work 36 hours a week isn’t hitting their work target. Meanwhile, another nurse with the same credentials is working overtime hours. This is a problem. Get a clearer picture of your labor force with nurse self-scheduling software. It gives nurses flexibility while making sure their respective work targets are being met. It will notify a nurse if more hours for the week are needed to meet their goals. You set up the guidelines and employees can log on to take remaining shifts. This way the difficult scheduling work is done for you while maintaining safe staffing levels.

6. Spending Too Much Time Making Phone Calls to Get Coverage

When you need a last-minute shift covered, you need it covered now. You don’t have time to waste making tons of phone calls trying to cover the shift. Add insult to injury by calling people who are already at work to ask them to come into work. It’s impossible to memorize the availability and daily schedule of every staff member. But, the information you need is at your fingertips with nurse scheduling software. It can automatically pull up who is available to work. You can then reach out to them by phone, or use the system itself to send messages to all available staff in order to find someone to cover.

Nurse scheduling software not only makes the creation and daily management of your schedule more efficient, but it also helps to make sure you always have the right people in the right place at the right time.

Is it time to modernize your scheduling process? Schedule360 has the right nurse scheduling software for you. The easy-to-use system configures to the way you work and is an affordable solution to your scheduling woes. Plus, you’re never alone with 24/7 customer support. Contact Schedule360 today for a free demo.