Build Engagement Through Nurse Scheduling Software
July 30, 2019
One of the big challenges in the healthcare industry is fighting burnout. Burnout is particularly prevalent among nurses, who often spend long shifts on their feet performing physically and emotionally taxing work. Burnout has led to a high rate of turnover in the nursing field. To help ensure that their nursing staff doesn’t become overworked and burned out, many hospitals and healthcare facilities are beginning to implement self-scheduling software.
Nurse scheduling software provides nurses with control over their work schedule. Doing so can help empower and engage your nursing staff which, in turn, makes scheduling much more efficient. The following are just a few of the ways that nurse scheduling software can benefit your nurses and your department as a whole:
1. Request Time Off More Easily
Nurse scheduling software makes it easy for nurses to set their own schedules, thereby getting the days off that they need while still meeting the required number of hours that they have to work per pay period. The ability to set their own schedule and decide when to take time off can help create more balance between their home and work lives, thereby preventing burnout. Even once their regular schedules have been set, nurses will find it a lot easier to request time off in real-time so that everyone (including the administrator and other nurses) can see changes made to the schedule.
2. Trade Shifts With Other Nurses
One of the biggest scheduling challenges has traditionally involved attempting to find someone else to cover a shift when one of your nurses called off at the last minute. Nurse scheduling software allows nurses to trade shifts with each other. Not only do you provide your nurses with the responsibility of getting their shifts covered, but it also makes it easy for them to do so by allowing them to trade shifts with ease.
3. Check Their Schedule Anytime
Nurses no longer have to check with an administrator to look at their schedule or to keep a physical copy of it. This is because nurse scheduling software can be accessed 24/7 online, which means that your nursing staff can check their schedules remotely from their smartphone whenever they need to.
4. Communicate Clearly Via the Software
Miscommunication can be a big challenge when it comes to scheduling. Nurse scheduling software helps eliminate this miscommunication since you give your nurses access to their schedules at all times. The software also makes it easy for nurses to get into contact with the administrator and to message one another about their schedule or about potential time off or shift trades.
For instance, messages sent through Schedule360 are timestamped, so there’s no longer a question as to whether or not a nurse saw a scheduling message from managers and administrators.
5. Stay on Top of License and Training Requirements
Nurse scheduling software makes it easy to track employee licensure, credentials, certifications, and their respective expiration dates, so that you can make sure they stay current. This ensures that they are not scheduled for shifts that require licenses or training that they do not have or are not up-to-date on.
6. Allow Nurses to Pick up Shifts
Besides allowing nurses to set their schedules ahead of time and to both trade shifts and request time off, self-scheduling software gives your nursing staff the ability to pick up shifts whenever they become available, thereby allowing them to work more if they want without having to specifically request additional hours.
As you can see, there are a lot of benefits to giving your nurses more control over their schedules using nurse scheduling software. For information about our nurse scheduling software, contact us at Schedule360 today.
