Centralized Scheduling SUCKS

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 29, 2014

Many hospitals use centralized scheduling. To be honest, I hated working for hospitals that did not allow for centralized scheduling. You may not know this, but nurses you worked with for years were not happy with his/her schedule because some of you got what you wanted when it came to scheduling. The reason being, a handfull of nurses (ones who have worked at a facility forever and/or who are the popular ones) got away with having a sweet-prime schedule and the rest of us suffered/sacrificed because of your schedules. In other words, there is way too much favoritism involved when there is a more personalized scheduling practice for Part-Time benefited and Full-time benefited positions vs. centralized scheduling for those same positions.

Also, I think patterned schedules are fair. In fact, if you want flexibility, then work Per Diem. The benefits are not great, but pay is higher and you will get your needed hours if you work in a hard-to-staff department or facility. I have easily picked up additional hours on other floors because of centralized scheduling to make up for hours I was called-off in my main department.

With all that said, I agree that 4-12s in a row and splits are crazy. Thus, I think that there should be a balance. Hopefully, when your facility moves to bargaining agreements this will improve your schedules by out-lawing bad/dangerous practices and supporting safe/good ones. Good luck!

imintrouble, BSN, RN · Dec 29, 2014

I'm with MBARN. When EVERYBODY gets treated the same, my sucky schedule is a lot easier to swallow. It's really hard not to be bitter, when 2-3 get to choose the very best schedule, and the rest of us get what's left.

sanfran1234 · Jan 1, 2015

I know that I won't mind the patterns if it really is fair. Like one nurse never wants to work Fridays because she says there is too much traffic...Really? Really?

Thanks for the answer. There is a lot left to figure out maybe. It just really seems like the upper management don't respect our contributions to the hospital and that we are simply numbers

OC_An Khe · Jan 1, 2015

The type of scheduling used is dependent on the resources, size and collective bargaining agreements, in a given hospital. What works for one institution may not work for another. Scheduling should take into account the needs of the institution and the needs (quality of life) of the individuals RNs. There needs to be a balance to have a truly effective organization. Scheduling done to satisfy the "bean counters" is actually more expensive in the long run.

I still find it appalling that RNs are still involuntarily called off/cancelled for low census in certain areas of the country. You never know what will come in through the door or a patient goes bad requiring additional staff. What other profession would accept losing 20% or more of their weekly income on chance.. Do firemen only get paid while fighting fires?

Graduatenurse14 · Jan 11, 2015

I still find it appalling that RNs are still involuntarily called off/cancelled for low census in certain areas of the country. You never know what will come in through the door or a patient goes bad requiring additional staff. What other profession would accept losing 20% or more of their weekly income on chance.. Do firemen only get paid while fighting fires?

This happens in my area of the country and I work for a unionized hospital.

FloridaBeagle · Jun 16, 2015

My unit claims to do self-scheduling, but it's a joke because the old nurses are grandfathered into a sweet schedule (they have set days they work, and never have to work weekends or holidays). This means the rest of us get to self-schedule, but what have we got to choose from??!! The newbies work every weekend or 3 weekends a month so the grandfathers don't have to. And my NM wonders why nurses just stick arounds to get their one year and leave... :banghead:

Centralized scheduling sounds better to me. I'd like to try it.

iluvivt, BSN, RN · Jun 16, 2015

We have a central staffing office off site but each area does their own scheduling via a self scheduling/preference program. Your type centralized scheduling does not sound like ours and does NOT allow you to have too much say so apparently. I have done scheduling for our department for about 27 years and I can tell you that if nurses are allowed to have input into their schedule they are much happier. Happy nurses are willing to work hard and more apt to come in and work extra, be willing to accept the fact that they may not get always get everything they want on their schedule. However, if they get enough of what they want and feel that someone cares they easily accept this!

I ask everyone what they prefer. I find out how many they want to work in a row, I find out if there is day they always need off. I find out if they want to split weekends or if they prefer to work both a Sat and Sun. I also find out if when they do work both Sat and Sun do they like to have Mon OFF. I keep track of idiosyncrasies such as the fact that when someone travels they should always take the day off after they return to rest up. When I do this the staff feel cared for and are more willing to work when it is not exactly what they want. So sometimes they may need to work 3 in a row but they do not forget they get a good percentage of what they want.

If they are giving you difficult schedules then you need to help them not do it! If you can put down unavailability in key spots to block them from using you then do so. I know a request is not guarantee unless you are using paid time off but it alerts them them of your preference and they may work it out in a different way. When I am done doing a schedule I look at each persons schedule and look at the pattern and make sure it is a good one. I would not give anyone (unless they asked for it) 4 days in a row then 1 day off and then 3 days in a row. I also look for patterns such as work one day and off the next,work a day then off the next.The person never gets a decent stretch of days off that way . I also make sure that everyone gets a good a long weekend break ( I rotate these). I will schedule the person off for Fri,Sat, Sun and Mon.

Look in the system and see if there is a way to leave a message such as, "Please do not schedule me for more than 2 shifts in a row" or is you schedule me for 3 shift in a row than I need at least 2 days (shifts) off after the completion of the 3 shifts.