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Weekly Q&A: Staff-nurse involvement in scheduling

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, March 14, 2006

This week, a reader asks for ways to involve staff nurses in their own scheduling. Read the response below from our advisor, Anne Jadwin, RN, MSN, AOCN, CNA, director of nursing, Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.

Q: I am looking for ideas to incorporate staff nurse input into unit-based scheduling to align with Force of Magnetism 5 (professional models of care), and to eventually demonstrate in my written documentation. Do you have any suggestions?

A: Encourage unit-based schedule committees to promote staff nurse involvement and influence over scheduling practices. Consider providing examples of self-scheduling practices, the rules by which these schedules are developed, and the method by which they are approved. Describe the staff nurse's influence in altering personnel resources based on patient census, patient acuity, staff competency, and skill mix. Describe the interaction between direct-care staff and managers/house supervisors that provides the justification for increasing (or decreasing) staff. Establish procedures for reporting concerns in staffing and cite examples of the direct-care nurse's influence in advocating for appropriate staffing resources.

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