Need Advice on self scheduling!

[Myersk08]

Hey everyone!

I am here to get some advice on a hot topic on our unit. We are a 32 bed oncology unit. We have a lot of nurse that have recently been leaving to go to other places. Some have other reasons but one of the main ones I keep on hearing is scheduling issues.

I have suggested numerous times to our managers about self scheduling and how I believe it would help keep our retention rate up.

Currently we have "patterns" and every 4 weeks is the same schedule repeated. It makes it nice because you know exactly when you work. However it's a pain when you need a certain weekend off but can't take it because it happens to be the weekend you work. The reason we are told patterns work better is because we have staff members that are certified in only certain things we have three levels a regular nurses, chemotherapy certified nurses and bone marrow transplant nurses. We need some of each every shift so our patients are covered. So rightfully I get why set patterns have been the standard on our floor because it is easier to know that day you have that many of the different qualifications. However it doesn't make for satisfaction amoung us nurses.

I am desperately trying to find out if anyone else has come across this issue and if you have how your unit handled it? I want to make sure when I talk to my manager I have some kind of game plan on how us picking our schedules would work.

Any my help or research would be appreciated!!

Thank you all!

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

That's a tough one. It seems that everyone would have to be certified in every area if there isn't enough coverage. Maybe post in the onocolgy section too, they may have ideas.

[Seaofclouds, BSN, RN]

I have worked in areas we could self schedule, even in those area, our set weekends were still set. We had to find coverage if we wanted the weekend off. That policy may not change just because self scheduling comes into play.

As far as suggestions, perhaps you could make up a mock schedule shell and find a way to arrange it so that it is divided by specialty and make rules about the specialty nurses needed to work different days/shifts. You would also need to decide how it will be filled out. Will it be first come first serve for the days? Will it be by seniority? Will there be rules for how many Friday's one must work so that the last person signing up isn't working every Friday?

Another option would be looking at the 4 week rotation and see if nurses want to swap with one another that share their specialty.

Scheduling was always my least favorite thing to do when I was in management. You never win and there is no way to make everyone happy. Do, you have to have set scheduling guidelines and enforce them fairly and evenly for all staff.

[ThatBigGuy]

We have self scheduling on our 32 bed ICU unit. We all place our preferred days on the schedule, then our manager builds the official schedule. That means sometimes you get all your self scheduled days, and other times you aren't even on the same block as what you scheduled. The manager's first priority is to make sure there is enough staffing, so someone is always going to get a schedule other than what they scheduled. About 1/3 of the RNs will not get the exact schedule they requested, varying from a 1 day difference to being on a different block.

We are required to work 5 weekend shifts per 4 weeks schedule, which is the only requirement we must consider when scheduling.

This is a unit in which each RN's scope is equal across the board, unlike your unit which has many different certifications. Our manager spends about 8 hours building each schedule, more during the holidays as she deals with requests. I can't imagine how much extra time your schedule builder will spend trying to deal with the self scheduling, plus the added layers of certifications required to adequately staff your unit.

In the end, self scheduling will still result in working days you hadn't planned on or wanted to work. You're still going to miss social and personal events. You may end up with more dissatisfaction because people will become disenchanted with the whole premise when they don't get their exact self scheduled days. It's easier to miss an event because The Pattern dictates the schedule. However, you'll feel cheated when you have to miss an event because the scheduler didn't let you have the exact days you self scheduled.

This may be an interesting experiment if you have a unit improvement team or committee. They can send out a fake schedule that you can self schedule, then have someone build a faux schedule based off the certifications. Then see how many nurses ended up with the days they scheduled themselves, and how many didn't. Doing this over a 3 to 6 month span will give you a good idea if it works.

[LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN]

Funny, I have self scheduling and I keep asking for a set weekend, because I build my schedule around my weekend.

We work every 3rd

But sometimes end up working 3 Friday's in a row or some random Saturday because someone else signed up for only Friday's instead of Friday& Saturday

I have been working in a place that dose self scheduling for the last 3 yrs and honestly self scheduling is nearly a suggestion of what you would like your schedule to be. Doesn't always work out how you want it.

You notice trends that maybe the pets don't seem to fill their weekend requirement.

You only know your schedule out 4-6 weeks at a time

Perhaps making swaps easier among the certified nurses

[Myersk08]

The fake schedule is a good idea! Maybe I could put it on a piece of paper and excel spread sheet it for her to see.

[Myersk08]

I think I might try it on one shift first maybe night shift to see how it would work.

I know self scheduling won't fix everyone's issues however an example of why the pattern is not working for us is this.

one girls husband weekend at the post office is Thursday and Friday. She asked if she could just not work those two days and even offered to pick up Saturday's and Sunday's and they told her well that just doesn't seem to work in our pattern. What are you kidding me I would rather work Thursday or Friday's than Saturday's and Sunday's. I think that's why we are getting fusterated on our unit.

[Seaofclouds, BSN, RN]

I think I might try it on one shift first maybe night shift to see how it would work.

I know self scheduling won't fix everyone's issues however an example of why the pattern is not working for us is this.

one girls husband weekend at the post office is Thursday and Friday. She asked if she could just not work those two days and even offered to pick up Saturday's and Sunday's and they told her well that just doesn't seem to work in our pattern. What are you kidding me I would rather work Thursday or Friday's than Saturday's and Sunday's. I think that's why we are getting fusterated on our unit.

Couldn't you and the other nurses equally certifies just trade shifts with her to give her the Thursday's/Friday's? While I understand your willingness to give up your weekend shifts, your manager has to remain fair in the required weekends. Allowing one person off every weekend for this one nurse to work every weekend could come across the wrong way to those that are still working their required weekends. Perhaps factoring her in as on every weekend and suggesting the rest of you switch to every third or something like that would work. It really depends on corporate policy though. I had one hospital that was a stickler for the every other weekend requirement and would not budge on it, even when we were overstaffed on weekends and short during the week.

Good luck with coming up with a schedule. I hope you find something that works for your unit.