Nurses have always wanted to have equitable assignments. Early on in every nurse’s career, we learn what feels balanced to us and what is “unfair.” We know when the assignment isn’t the way it should be and, subjectively, we voice these concerns. As a nurse gains experience, the overwhelming feelings of those first assignments begin to become the norm as we balance our time management or start to develop our style of charting. But even so, there is always the chance of a challenging assignment.
This could be a patient that simply needs more nursing attention—not that their medical condition merits it—but rather because of their communication complexities, or maybe their behavior needs more reassurance from nursing staff. Some of the longest, hardest and most draining shifts aren’t the shifts where there were complex procedures or multiple medications, but rather the ADL needs of the patients instead.
Objective, Equitable Nursing Assignments
In part two of the blog series, we explained how the nursing process is what drives AcuityPlus and the indicators it uses to determine acuity for each and every patient multiple times a day. With its objective set of indicators, we can now assign that nursing workload evenly across your nursing staff. This is not only for your licensed staff (RNs, LPNs), but also your unlicensed staff (PCTs, Techs, CNAs). The methodology we use is standardized which allows the same measurements to apply to all patients equally. This, in turn, gives us a way to calculate workload at the patient level to then create equitable assignments.
Balanced Assignments in a Single Click
Our assignment module even creates workload-balanced assignments with a single click, taking into account the ergonomic layout of a department. By using this function, it gives the charge nurse, or the one making an assignment, a tool to give an equal share of work to each nurse. Gone are the days of favoritism or giving truly unsafe assignments to float staff or travelling nurses simply because “they make more.” Our tools have continuously helped nursing leaders across the country review questionable assignments. AcuityPlus allows users to see how an assignment was unfair to their staff or may have even led to sentinel events.
With this acuity-driven nursing tool, there is no longer a question about a department’s unfair assignment practices in relation to an RN that floats to their unit. Now, there is a way to objectively manage it. This, in turn, leads to retaining staff because they know that even when they’re floated, they’ll be treated as fairly as the other staff that call that unit home.
Optimally Use the Nursing Resources You Have
Nurses are hard-working, and sometimes there won’t be the staff that might be recommended based on the acuity. This could be due to a call-out or temporary vacancy, but by having this objective tool, everyone can still have a balanced assignment with the resources that are available. It’s much easier to work as a team when everyone is working hard together rather than an arbitrary assignment of hallways, or, like we’ve discussed before, the use of tasks.
Every organization should strive to provide equitable assignments that are grounded in a comprehensive and objective solution that can be reviewed for all of their staff.
Connect with us to learn more about AcuityPlus.
Blog by: Walker Schlundt, BSN RN
The Benefits of an Acuity-Driven Nursing Workload Solution:
