SuperStaffer

My department was going to use the system and then after the initial training abandoned it, this was while I was still there. I went out on a leave of absence and while I was gone they were "forced" to start using the api system. They have been on it for about 4-5 months and my manager has started looking at other options to see if they will let us go outside of what the rest oif the facility is using. So far I know that 2 of my frie4nds in different departments have stopped using the system due to different problems. It sucks for me but the main problem is the staff dont like it and that makes it harder on us. If it was just me I would suck it up, I understand that you do what your told but it seems like its not me. I was just wondering what other options are out there?

I recently have been gone on extended leave of absence for personal reasons. I am glad to be back to the only job I have ever loved. To my sisters I have missed you, to my brothers, I have missed you as well, to all my past and future patients I REALLY missed you. My facility recently went to the API scheduling system and it seems pretty bad. I need some help here, I have been out of the game for almost a year but I swear, I am really smart! I have currently gone through the training once, well it was mostly some literature, then a pat on the back. The system didn't work for me so, being me, I screamed from the highest bedside table and got some one on one attention. It honestly might have made things worse, thy didn't really teach me anything, I'm still pretty lost. I admit I didn't like Kronos but I had it down after using it so much. Is there either an alternative to API that can work with their system that is easy or seriously, is it me? I didn't like Kronos but I was good at it because I used it so much.

Hi TCheers, Number 1 - ANSOS is horrible, you may want to talk to your programmers and have them update it to something within this century. Number 2 - I don't think that you are supposed to plug your system on here. I apologize for criticizing your product but I have not met a nurse that actually likes it. It's true that you interface but the support for the product failed me one too many times. When they finally went to review for replacement the ANSOS attitude was one of blaming us instead of apologizing for the problems. That's one way to alienate your customer base.

Because Kronos is a horrible product. Hate to say it but they should stay out of the clinical world.

No problem. I do a lot of staffing and so scheduling and how it relates to our T&A system is something that I often handle. Don't thiunk about it in terms of lying, it will keep you up at night. Their job is to make things easier for us, no matter the vendor. I have no idea about computers and programing but I know that I am sure it's hard to do. My husband complains about his company where they start developing something and then leadership changes and priority change. The vendor may not have lied to you, they may have started down that road and then changed direction. I am sure your facility has instituted stupid P&Ps only to reorganize them at a later point. Think of it that way. That being said I don't like either Concerro or Kronos so don't think I am defending them. I just don't want you getting frustrated. The best course of action I have found is verify EVERYTHING! Ask questions, talk to references and try it out if you can. You can't in this case since you purchased it already but if they LIED to you then your executive team may have the ability to get out of it. Don't hurt your career though, I was in a way blacklisted when I spoke out too many time on another project. I was the pain in the butt that wouldn't shut up......lol, just like my personal life. The politics eventually made me jump ship, it was too bad because I truly think that I was in the right and would have helped that facility if they had listened to me....(sob)...but I'm just a lowly RN. Lol, naaawww, I'm at a waaaaaaay better place now with a limited amount of politics. I love my job!!!!!

Is it Concerro or API? The older API system was ok. I know many of my sisters say it sucks but I thought it was ok once you spend the time to learn it. Concerro, well all I know is they failed everywhere I went sooooooo, I'm gonna list the bests steps for you: Step 1 - Switch away from API, if concerro see step 4 Step 2 - Kick your whole IT department in the teeth for switching to a non effective system! Step 3 - Beg to open a review where the nursing team is center stage in the decision. Step 4 - If Concerro was your choice then run screaming from the hospital to a facility that you can actually work at! Just kidding, they aren't that bad, you just will find yourself using it less and less, and less until your department isn't using it and then you get in trouble for not being up on your productivity. Insert blame on IT department and see step 2 then see step 3. I had a great day so I'm in a really good mood, sorry for being silly. I have used API and Concerro. API does not have a interface to any other T&A system. Concerro said they did but when it came time to install it they failed and ended up lengthening out the T&A project till it seemed to have been forgotten. My ex-co workers still at my last facility say they never got it up and running.

I agree, there is no shortage and in several of the cities the hospitals are competing to get nurses from one facility to theirs. You should never listen to a mother in law. They are meant to be evile. At least mine is.

First let me say that that is ONE CUTE DOG as your avatar! Greyhound? Such sweet animals. I agree on everything you said. I have gone to a few facilities and 2 out of the three and my friends are at other facilities where they have Kronos. Everyone either doesn't like it or doesn't use it. How much are these guys paying for it and how in the hell are they installing this in healthcare?!?!?! Cerner? Look, they do have a pretty good EMR. Have you seen their Acuity system? It's interesting. We don't track Acuity actually, my CNO thinks it a liars system easily manipulated. Management wants to get something to increase productivity but I don't think that Acuity is the way. I know this isn't the place for this but it relates to scheduling. If Acuity is easily manipulated than staffing is off. I have read articles on staffing and the healthcare in general and I don't think Acuity will ever take off. It's been trying for some time. I did use Quadrimed and it was ok. management liked it but it seemed like they didn't enforce it at a management level.

If you want to join an evil organization that has had a good idea perverted than defiantly join a union. You won't have to work much, you can be lazy, make mistakes, generally lower your standards overall, be known as a member of a buying organization and looked down on by management and many other peers. If you want to be your own person and maintain your own responsibility than non-union. I left a hospital because unions were being let in the door. I have had too much experience with the ugly organizations. At their inception they were a good idea but like so many things they have been perverted over time.

Yea, training for most of these systems is loooong, the ones that should be long arnt and the ones that are long should spare you the problems. APIs training was spot on, it was my fault that I needed to go through it again. Shift Wizard's was really good too. Kronos' I actually tried to gnaw my leg off to get away, I can only Imagine how the management's training was!

I have worked in many facilities due to moving around a lot and have used lots of systems so I'll see if I can help out... SmartSquare-That was used in my last facility in FL. It has a lot of bells and whistles which may be the reason no one used it. It was forced upon us and then just fizzled. The facility went to Concerro and THAT fizzled out due to everyone hating it. What can I say, they were hard to please, that was the reason me and a bunch of my fellow RNs left, either that or the fact that management didn't have a clue. ShiftWizard-These guys I loved! I heard that everyone in the company were nurses which made it great for me. I thought that the system was really easy to use and while I was doing the scheduling for the department I never had one problem. From what I heard everyone liked it and it was used in the whole facility. ANSOS-Garbage, very old! Come on, hospitals have the most up to date technology! Why do you have something made in the 1940s! Kronos-It seemed ok, I never had a problem with it. at the point that I used this I was only staffing and not assisting with the schedule so I don't know what management used it for. It seemed ok to me API/Concerro-My first scheduling coordinator job was with the use of API's scheduler. It wasn't that bad, the training was good, the system wasn't easy but after enough training I got to be pretty proficient. That and I loved my department. Sadly I moved with my boyfriend so had to move on. I worked at Rex in Raleigh and was casual in several departments. The hospital didn't enforce Concerro so a lot of department didn't use the system. That made it ineffectual, my primary department wouldn't use it due to all the problems but my secondary department used it and said their director said that they needed something electronic. My overall opinion is that in our complex world of staffing and patient care you need something to make a nurse's life easier. We need the control over our requests, and our schedules/pay. Each one of these systems is better than the excel sheets that my sister says she is forced to use.....Yea, even ANSOS (Well, maybe not). Jeff, if you can organize your staff and present to them how important a functional system is to your performance and the performance of your peers than you hopefully can shake things up. I am continuing my schooling and I plan on writing a paper on "Scheduling vs. Management & Management WITH Staff" in the future. I have already done some research so when I force myself to organize everything I will share it. I hope I helped.

I enjoy my job! There are problems and bad co workers but overall I love what I do. I think most people complain because they all say that Nurses are so bad they will eat their own. Lol, we are woman arn't we? We can tend to be petty. THAT I see a lot of.

Smoking is a discussing habit that I'm sure will be continued to be minimized. With pot smoking still prevalent, cigarette smoking will never go away though. That and the government makes more of of cigarette smoking than the tobacco companies!

This doesn't have to do with sleeping but I have known of several co workers that have taken drugs. Both from dispensing machines and from patients. Really? Who does that?!?!?

NO WAY!!!! Was the person fired?

You should always do what you think will make you happy? I don't know what motivates you,m money, growth, certain goals? I know that I will be a staffer for as long as I can. I actually love my patients and don't want to not be a part of their lives, I think I am helping to make their lives better, even the unruly ones. In this economy please make sure that you weigh your decisions though.

As long as you adhere to proper procedures you will minimize your exposure to things. That being said I have been , thrown up on, had other bodily fluids thrown at me, stepped in things not readily identifiable and generally been exposed to all forms of crap. That being said, I actually love my job!!