Hospital Staffing vs. Quality of Care
Research has shown that hospitals with low staffing levels compared to industry standards have poorer outcomes (ahrq.gov). You are probably asking yourself - if there is a correlation between staffing levels and patient outcomes why wouldn't hospitals staff accordingly? A couple of key factors are at work:
- Nurse shortage
- Scheduling complications that arise from having more staff members
There are simply more baby boomers reaching an older age than there are nurses graduating nursing school. While the bureau of labor statistics indicates that nursing is one of the fastest growing professions, the demand is greater than the supply and likely will be for many years to come. Many existing nurses are leaving the profession as stress levels rise from the excessive workloads.
How can we solve the problem facing our country's medical system? Recruiting, training, education, and better decisions by our government leaders is a good place to start. Supplement those things with software intelligence and you have a real shot at turning things around.
Existing nurses are under immense pressure to ensure positive patient outcomes. Why not lower their stress levels by choosing a scheduling platform that allows them to participate in the scheduling process by claiming available shifts and providing them with real-time updates via text/email as schedules change? Improve patient outcomes by assigning the right nursing resource at the right time. Protect your workforce (and your budget) against working too many hours using overtime protection intelligence.
Time 360, our staff scheduling solution, has these features and many more. Please sign up for a trial account today to see for yourself just how easy it is to improve productivity, guard against burnout, and increase staff satisfaction.
-The Time 360 Team