Each day within a skilled nursing facility or long-term care community begins with a schedule. Some schedules can work for the organization, providing stability, compliance and a better workplace experience, and others against it, causing turnover, gaps in quality of care and even reputational damage. 

Scheduling can have this trifecta effect:

  • For administrators, scheduling is a complex puzzle to drive compliance and optimization; 
  • For staff, it’s the key that can make or break their work experience; and
  • For residents, it determines the quality of care they receive. 

When done right, scheduling can provide an impactful return on investment, but more importantly, staff and resident satisfaction. A great scheduling platform can completely reenergize your entire organization, saving time for admins, increasing staff retention, and improving the care experience for residents.

Admins: Saving time and reducing stress

The complex puzzle of scheduling

For admins, scheduling can be a daunting challenge. Complex staffing requirements, regulatory compliance, varied shift patterns, high staff turnover and the need for flexible staffing solutions – all of these factors create a chaotic environment where schedules change frequently. This weekly task demands time and attention, often causing considerable stress.

The power of automated scheduling software

Luckily, this time-consuming process can be dramatically reduced with the right automated scheduling software. Your schedule-building tool should be able to store and manage complex employee availability, including time off and shift preferences, in the same platform you already handle HR functions, like payroll, onboarding, benefits administration, and time and attendance.

By auto-generating schedules and employee placements based on preferences, availability and regulatory requirements, a good scheduling tool can save admin time and ensure that the right staff are in the right place at the right time. This efficiency extends all the way through payday, allowing staff to see how their schedules align with their expected pay.

From chaos to efficiency

A comprehensive scheduling system can transform admin challenges into manageable tasks where most of the heavy lifting is handled without human intervention. Having to manually transfer employee data between various software, balance employee preferences and operational requirements, and then create and communicate the schedule steals valuable time from an admin’s already hectic day.

By automating this with software built for healthcare and the challenges you face, you can improve operational efficiency and reduce stress for admins already juggling numerous responsibilities. The result? More time in the day to focus on other important areas of your facility and enhanced overall productivity.

Staff: Improving retention and creating a better work experience

The impact of scheduling on staff experience

When it comes to your staff, scheduling can significantly influence their work experience. Providing consistent and fair schedules that cater to each nurse’s individual needs allows them to better balance their personal and professional lives. Software that enables admins to offer a more optimal scheduling experience for staff can enhance work-life balance, improve morale, and reduce burnout. The key is empowerment – meeting caregivers and embracing their needs and preferences.

Enhancing morale with work-life balance

Our Caregiver Onboarding Experience Report highlighted the stark differences between Leaders and Laggards in the health services industry concerning the work-life balance of new care staff. Ninety percent of employees who rated their organization as a leader felt that their work-life balance was “very good” or “somewhat good” compared to only 44% of employees at laggard organizations.

When thinking of ways to communicate how the organization values work-life balance, one of the obvious areas is scheduling – after all, asking employees for schedule preferences and then scheduling accordingly demonstrates a willingness to embrace work-life balance. 

Empowering staff with technology

Communication is half the battle when it comes to scheduling. Optimal software allows messages and updates to be sent directly to nurses’ phones through a mobile employee self-service (ESS) app. This reduces conflicts and misunderstandings by keeping staff informed without the need to constantly check for schedule updates.

Additionally, providing staff with the ability to take back some control of the scheduling process – viewing assigned shifts and claiming open shifts via an easy-to-use mobile ESS app – empowers employees and reduces the need for admin assistance. These small features can have a large impact on employee satisfaction and retention by making it easier for staff to manage their schedules.

Residents: Elevating quality of care and outcomes

Dependable and timely care

Residents in your facility or community depend on the quality of care provided by your staff. Their experience and quality of care are directly influenced by how well your facility operates, which in turn depends on an effective scheduling process. With optimal scheduling, residents and their families can trust that their needs will be met promptly due to well-managed care resources.

Enhancing resident wellbeing

Residents benefit from happier staff who can create stronger social bonds and provide increased social attention because they aren’t feeling stretched thin. This promotes increased mental and emotional well-being, making their time at your facility more enjoyable. Building trust and rapport with caregivers makes a real difference in the comfort and security of residents, ensuring they receive accommodations and personalized attention based on their daily struggles.

Critical care for vulnerable populations

Residents in skilled nursing facilities and long-term care communities are among our most vulnerable populations. Optimal scheduling software plays an essential role in achieving this by maintaining the efficiency and effectiveness of your operations.

The immense hidden impact of scheduling

The hidden impact of scheduling is immense. The ripple effects can be felt throughout your entire organization. It quietly influences the satisfaction and well-being of your employees and residents, often without anyone noticing it as the catalyst.

By utilizing a comprehensive scheduling product, your organization can continue providing exceptional care and make a positive impact on all of your admins, staff and residents.

Navin Gupta is the CEO at Viventium. He has an interdisciplinary background in healthcare, technology, and business spanning more than 25 years. Prior to Viventium, Gupta was CEO at LifeLoop and senior vice president of ResMed SaaS.

The opinions expressed in McKnight’s Long-Term Care News guest submissions are the author’s and are not necessarily those of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News or its editors.

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