A real-time Excel-based scheduling solution for nursing staff reallocation.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Administration
• Operations Research

Background:

• Sudden, unplanned nursing staff absences pose significant challenges to hospital operations.
• Traditional paper-based scheduling systems are often inefficient for managing flexible nurse allocation.
• Effective resource management is crucial for maintaining patient care continuity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate an Excel-based scheduling solution for flexible nurse allocation.
• To assess the impact of the Excel-based system on managing unplanned nursing staff absences.
• To determine the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the developed scheduling tool.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental, one-group, pre- and post-test study design was employed.
• Total sampling included all 17 ward and assistant ward managers from a university hospital department.
• Data on nursing staff absences were collected over two 4-week periods, comparing paper-based and Excel-based systems.

Main Results:

• The Excel-based system identified 106 absences, a reduction from 121 absences under the paper-based system.
• Sick leave (66) and workload (31) were the primary reasons for needing flexible nurses.
• The Excel-based solution reduced the tasks ward managers performed for staff reallocation.

Conclusions:

• The Excel-based scheduling solution effectively supports the internal allocation of substitute nursing staff.
• The system demonstrated potential for reducing overall employment costs associated with managing absences.
• Implementation of the Excel-based tool streamlined the reallocation process for ward managers.