Nurse Self-Scheduling Can Reduce Low Morale
May 7, 2019
Long hours in an often-stressful environment can take its toll on nurses. Nurse burnout is real. It can affect the physical and emotional well-being of even the most skilled professional. As a result, facilities that employ nurses can often experience a high rate of turnover as nurses look for other opportunities in order to lighten their load. However, there is a step employers can take to help their overworked nursing staff. The key is improved staffing levels and a smarter schedule. This can be achieved with nurse scheduling software.
Utilizing self-scheduling at your facility can empower your nurses and reduce burnout.
Self-Scheduling Allows Your Nurses to Oversee Their Schedules
Having satisfaction in the way their schedule is made can be an instant pick-me-up, both mentally and physically for nurses. Old-school spreadsheets make it nearly impossible for nurses to have input of when they will work. But computerized workforce management software makes self-scheduling possible. This gives nurses power over their schedules and adds to job satisfaction.
Self-Scheduling Also Allows For Better Fatigue-Reducing Schedules To Be Created.
Clocking in and out is streamlined and creates alerts once an employee has worked so many hours in a given time period, and can enforce breaks between long shifts. It can also reduce overtime by alerting scheduling managers when a nurse is approaching hour thresholds. Overtime is a major contributor to nurse burnout, but an administrator doing scheduling is not always aware of when someone has just completed a 12 hour shift. Self-scheduling software creates alerts so everyone is always on the same page.
Time Off
Self-scheduling software designed with nurses in mind gives stressed out employees the comfort of a better balance between work and home life. A good program gives nurses the power to not schedule themselves on days they need off versus requesting the time off. They can be confident that they will not be at work when they need to be off. It allows them to keep their professional and home life separate and avoid dwelling on work issues at home. Doing this enables nurses to more easily relax when off the clock.
Some self-scheduling software also allows nurses to trade shifts. This eases worry and fatigue allowing the nurses to take time off without affecting the number of hours worked by giving them the power to request or trade a shift. The requested schedule change can be approved by an administrator and then modifications are made in real-time so all team members can see who will be on a shift.
Schedules Posted In Advance
Self-scheduling programs allow schedulers to create shifts more efficiently and finalize them faster. The further out a schedule is made, the more easily nurses can schedule home responsibilities around work duties. This means there is less stress and not as much shift swapping is needed because the nurses know their schedule weeks or months ahead of time. Plus, nurses who are starting to feel the fatigue of long shifts can give up a shift to lighten their load. Meanwhile, nurses who are looking for additional hours can pick up those shifts.
Mobile Access
A web-based self-scheduling system means nurses have access to their schedules any time. It can be checked remotely 24/7 from any device with Internet access. This easily removes an unneeded stressor from nurses’ lives. It means no more calling in to see if they are working or getting woken up because they didn’t show up for a shift.
The best self-scheduling software will allow you to configure scheduling rules for your team so they get exactly what they need to create a schedule that promotes balance and reduces burnout.
Schedule360 is flexible and easy-to-use, so your scheduling process will be streamlined while your nurses are happier because they get the flexibility they need. It is a great scheduling solution for a stressful job. Not all employment management companies can say they. Contact Schedule360 today for a demo and see for yourself how nurse self-scheduling can work for you.
