Improving flexible working through electronic team rostering in 24-hour care settings

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Nursing Workforce Studies
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Flexible working is a key NHS priority, but challenging in 24-hour care settings.
• Shift work, including night shifts, negatively impacts healthcare staff health and well-being.
• Traditional rostering systems often limit flexibility and can affect work-life balance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of electronic team rostering (ETR) on nurses in 24-hour hospital departments.
• To compare nurses' experiences with ETR versus a baseline mixed paper and electronic system.
• To assess changes in rostering satisfaction, fairness, work-life balance, and well-being.

Main Methods:

• A service evaluation was conducted in two hospital departments with 24-hour care.
• 130 nurses were surveyed to compare their experiences with the baseline system and ETR.
• Surveys measured rostering satisfaction, perceived fairness, work-life balance, and well-being.

Main Results:

• Nurses reported overall improvements in job satisfaction with ETR.
• Perceptions of fairness, work-life balance, and well-being were enhanced using ETR.
• Some nurses noted system-specific issues with the electronic team rostering implementation.

Conclusions:

• Electronic team rostering offers significant benefits for nurses working in 24-hour care settings.
• ETR can positively influence nurse satisfaction, fairness, and overall well-being.
• Addressing system issues is important for optimizing ETR implementation in healthcare.