Improve Patient Care by Reducing Short-Staffed Nursing Shifts

December 10, 2021

Researchers and medical professionals have known for years that short-staffing levels in healthcare facilities negatively impact patient experience and employee turnover rates. Unfortunately, it’s a common occurrence in nearly every hospital department. One of the best ways to help schedulers navigate the complexities of short staffing is to implement a software scheduling solution to help optimize and better allocate your current resources.

Better Work/Life Balance

There is no doubt about it-a healthy work/life balance and how administrators value it can make a big impact on staff turnover. When employees are asked to repeatedly pick-up extra shifts, cover shifts at the last minute, or are asked to stay late to keep things running smoothly, they can become frustrated and unhappy. Schedule360 nurse scheduling software can help give nurses a better work/life balance, which can improve morale-especially during periods of short staffing. Implementing self-scheduling options and balanced shift swaps will give your nursing staff some control over their schedules. Rules-based self-scheduling and shift swapping allows your nurses to plan-ahead and around their shifts, giving them a sense of freedom and flexibility. With an organized, centralized scheduling process with real-time reporting features, your schedulers will be able to forecast scheduling needs more efficiently, distribute hours fairly, and reduce the number of gaps that lead to critical need, hot shifts.

Reducing Nurse Burnout

Nursing is a challenging career that is publicly prone to burnout. When nurses lack the support and resources they need, the burnout process is accelerated. Our software lets you optimize your staff based on target work hours and OT thresholds. By streamlining your scheduling process, you’ll be able to better utilize your current staff with balanced shifts and avoid assigning or approving OT when others haven’t met their target work hours yet.

Segment Messaging

There are messages intended for all employees, and times when you need to relay a message to a select group based on relevance or need. Either way, we’ve made this an easy task to manage. We understand the importance of being able to effectively communicate with your employees, so our software comes equipped with an internal messaging tool, along with enhanced messaging features that allow you to segment messages accordingly. You may have an urgent need that only applies to those currently working, or maybe you need to send something out that is only relevant to staff who aren’t working but are available to come in. Responsive messaging can also be used in case of an emergency to alert staff to potential security threats and closures without broadcasting concerns through a PA system.

Unique Features Designed to Address Common Pain Points

Our software can ensure you have the right staff in the right place at the right time. We take the guesswork and frustration out of staff scheduling with features designed to streamline and automate your current scheduling process. With Schedule360, our proven and configurable software solution has the right mix of features you need to solve the issues related to short staffing, and you won’t be sifting through a library of features you won’t ever use.

24/7 Web-Based Access

Schedule360 provides complete schedule transparency by providing all employees with 24/7 web-based access to their schedules, updated in real-time. Eliminate time-consuming phone calls and emails from staff asking when they’re scheduled to work next. Having web-based access also greatly reduces no shows and schedule confusion. The ability to oversee multiple schedules from a centralized location in real-time makes managing the entire scheduling process less of a hassle and frees up your resources to be spent elsewhere and more productively.

Credential Tracking

Utilizing nurse scheduling software makes keeping track of employee licensure and skills easy. Credentials are conveniently stored in employee profiles. When creating a schedule, shifts can be broken down by shift type and required credentials to ensure that only those qualified to work the shift are being scheduled or allowed to pick up open shifts. Streamlining the way you oversee licenses will allow schedulers to create balanced shifts with ease.

OT Alerts and Manual Approval Settings

Schedule360 provides alerts on shifts that place an employee in overtime for the work week or pay period. Alerts can be overridden by admins, and employees can request to work OT, pending admin approval. This feature allows you to optimize your current staff and eliminates costly agency dependency since you can quickly view who still needs to meet target work hours before approving OT or calling in agency labor to handle gaps in coverage.

API Integrations

Our software integrates effortlessly with leading payroll, HR, and CRM software applications. With Schedule360, you don’t have to completely overhaul your entire process. We seamlessly work with your current processes and help you filter out processes that may have created inefficiencies in the past.

Improving Patient Care is Possible by Partnering with Schedule360

Overcoming the nursing shortage is an uphill battle, but you don’t have to go it alone. Schedule360 has the software solution you need to ensure your facility is running efficiently. Our user-friendly implementation process is designed to get you set up with a staff scheduling software solution configured to fit your department’s needs. Through the implementation process and training we handle the data entry for you and provide you with a step-by-step guided plan. A solution to your scheduling and labor management pain points won’t do much good if your team is burdened by the set-up. At Schedule360, We Know Scheduling™. Contact us for a configured demo to see exactly how our nurse scheduling software can make a big difference in how you manage your workforce.