[pointhope]

I am one of the House Supervisors for a hospital that has over 300 beds/13 units. At present the house supervisor manages staffing for the units. There are three med surg units, three tele units, 2 ICUs etc. Each unit has its own staff of nurses. If the census is low on one unit a nurse can float from that unit to another unit with similar type patients. Patient care techs can float to any floor needed. Each shift the house super reviews the oncoming staff and patient load and makes a decision about what units need extra help and what units can float a nurse or tech. Since she has an overall picture, the system works well. We have recently been asked to change to a unit based staff management policy, where each unit schedules their own staff based on acuity and calls the House Supervisor about 3 hours before end of shift and relates that they have a nurse/pct to float or that they have a need. In a perfect world this seems like an easier system. Has anyone used this system and does it work?