Questions re: Staff Coordinator

Published

I work LTC passing meds, a position has been posted at work for a staff coordinator. Duties include: staffing, staff developement, on call, working the floor prn. I'm debating applying for the position, would some of you experienced staff coordinators give me your input please? I don't want to jump into a position not knowing what to expect. Do you fill in when a nurse calls off or are others pretty willing to help out? Some input please! I'm just not sure I want to commit to being on call all the time either. At least doing med pass I know what I will be doing all day and at the end of the day I can go home,(most of the time anyway) even though being on my feet all day is about to kill me!! Thanks.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Ask for a job description...the on call part would bother me. How much will you really be having to pick up. Staff ed would be a favorite of mine. There are a few groups or sites you can get info on. Scheduling in my facility is a nightmare...I get 2 or 3 calls a week to come in. MOstly I have to say no since DH works late. Right now we have a secretary/ office assistant doing nursing staffing..and very little extra staff. I guess it depends on your facility. Do you have alot of PRN staff or high turnover rate?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in MDS coordinator, hospice, ortho/ neuro.

Staffing would probably end up being what you spend the most time on.........that could be a full time job all by itself in a larger facility. Ditto with staff education. In a small place it might be OK. It seems to me that everyone I ever knew who did staffing (scheduling) eventually loathed it. Our ADON spends 50% of her time on scheduling, but right now staffing is a mess anyway. By on-call do they mean every 5th or so weekend or something else ( been there, done that, won't do it again)?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU, Psych, Med-surg...etc....

Where I worked, we had a staffing coordinator for awhile. Then the ADON took over. It was not a pleasant thing for her. She spent a lot of time on staffing. If you are required to work the shifts you cannot fill, beware. You may end up working odd shifts and the like. What a nightmare to have to work a 11-7 shift one night then back up for a 3-11 the next day. Do you have help? Is there on call staff to help? Would you be expected to work as a CNA if there was a need? These are things you may want to consider. The ADON where I worked had a life of hell with staffing and we were staffed well, but Oh, those call ins!....when they happened it seemed like you could get no one to fill them.... Good luck to you if you choose this challenging role!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

I wouldn't touch that job again with a thirty-nine-and-a-half-foot pole!! I absolutely loved staff development, but scheduling was the nightmare from Hell.........as it generally is in LTC. First, a lot of facilities employ a small but very troublesome number of CNAs who mysteriously come down with the 'bottle flu' every weekend; secondly, almost EVERYBODY hates their schedule, thus almost everybody hates the scheduling person; thirdly, there are usually at least one or two nurses who sometimes 'forget' they're supposed to work, and somebody's got to pick up that shift........who better than the staffing coordinator? :chuckle

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU, Psych, Med-surg...etc....

quote:and somebody's got to pick up that shift........who better than the staffing coordinator?

Unfortunately, you are sooooo right.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

I've been an SDC...never had to do staffing....never had to work the floor. At the facility I'm at now, the SDC worked the floor twice in the 3 years she was there. It's a great job. I'd take it now if it weren't for the cut in pay!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I wouldn't have a job like that if it were offered to me on a gold platter.

Too much probablity of having to work shifts for call ins.

I never had the job of staffing coordinator in the NH I worked in for awhile, but I had a taste of it. I worked on nightshift, and had to take all the callins early in the morning, while I was doing my early morning med pass, bs checks and insulins.

It was a headache just for that, I don't ever want to be responsible for call ins.

They expected me to stop what I was doing and start calling around tying to find someone to fill in for the one who called in.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Don't work for salary!! Make sure you get paid an hourly wage because yu will for sure be getting overtime!!:roll

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, PICC Nurse, Nursing Supervisor.

I am a weekend med nurse but, the weekend staffing nurse as well. Take my word for it, there is no job closer to hell than staffing...If you are going to mix that with SDC OMG..:banghead: Trust me... keep passing pills.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

I work in a 142 bed facility. When we hired a new day supervisor, she was amazed that we had a 40 hour staffing person - a CNA,not a licensed nurse."Why do you need a 40 hour person?" she asked me the first week there.

Then the staffing person went on vacation and the day supervisor had to take over...she quickly found out why we are budgeted for that many hours!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion