Workforce management tool helps rightsize nursing staff
When Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., implemented a new workforce management tool for its nursing units, the health system uncovered a hidden world of “haves” and “have-nots.”
“We struggled with nurse staffing and productivity,” explained Kathy Baker, VCU’s director of nursing management, emergency department and transport services, to an audience Tuesday at the KronosWorks2011 conference in Orlando. “There wasn’t a lot of science to how (the schedule) was managed, and it was somewhat political.”
Some units were “flush” with staff, while others were chronically understaffed, said Baker.
To combat its nurse staffing issues, VCU implemented a scheduling tool from workforce management company Kronos several years ago. The Kronos tool “equalized staffing so ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ are a thing of the past for us,” said Baker. “Those units that were wrong sized were a drain on the entire system. Fixing our staffing demonstrated improved quality for us.”
According to Baker, the benefits of the Kronos tool include the ability to:
• designate “novice nurses” so the schedule does not include too many first-year nurses at once
• track non-productive time
• proactively audit unit schedules to ensure appropriate staff usage
• measure overall resource allocation (not just averages)
• capitalize on in-house resources to reduce use of outsourced nurses
Healthcare providers are facing increasing complexity in care, lower reimbursements, a decreasing supply of qualified nurses and an increasing demand for care from an aging population, said Baker. “There are no concrete answers. We need an adequate tool kit to face workforce management demands.”
