e-Roster policy: Insights and implications of codifying nurse scheduling

Following a decade of dissemination, particularly within the British National Health Service, electronic rostering systems were recently endorsed within the Carter Review. However, electronic rostering necessitates the formal codification of the roster process. This research investigates that codification through the lens of the 'Roster Policy', a formal document specifying the rules and procedures used to prepare staff rosters. This study is based upon analysis of 27 publicly available policies, each approved within a 4-year period from January 2010 to July 2014. This research finds that, at an executive level, codified knowledge is used as a proxy for the common language and experience otherwise acquired on a ward through everyday interaction, while at ward level, the nurse rostering problem continues to resist all efforts at simplification. Ultimately, it is imperative that executives recognise that electronic rostering is not a silver bullet and that information from such systems requires careful interpretation and circumspection.