Self Scheduling: Help me prove the nay-sayers wrong.

plumrn, BSN, RN · Mar 17, 2006

We did self scheduling for quite a while, but are doing regular rotating schedules for about the last year now. I like parts of each one.

With self-scheduling, there is a lot more freedom, but it comes with a price.

We have 2 shifts. Days and nights each had there own schedule to fill out.

A weekend was Saturday and Sunday, and you had to work at least 2 weekend days per schedule. Later, it was 3, and then 4 weekend days, depending on how our census was, or how the amount of staff fluctuated.

You sometimes have to change what you wanted, to fit the needs of the floor, so it really isn't 'self-scheduling' completely. There were always holes in the schedule, so it took a lot longer to get a schedule together. Sometimes, people just did not want to budge, when the word was put out to

'fill the holes'. If the holes weren't filled, the scheduler just moved people around to fill holes, trying to not 'pick' on any one person. This regularly made people mad, however, as most everyone had plans for the days they did not schedule themselves to work. What a nightmare.

The full time staff got to fill in first, then part timers, then prn/pool filled in last.

It was never told ahead of time when the schedule would go out to be filled in, so if you came in 2 days later, you got really trashy days. If somehow we did get word when the schedule would come out, you might be spending the early morning hours of your day off, waiting outside the schedulers office to be first in line to fill in. I don't want to even think about my place of employment on my days off, let alone get up early and spend my morning there.

Many of us felt besides going by fulltime status, it should also go by seniority, to determine when you get to fill in your days. This would encourage commitment to the facility, and would be an added perk for your longevity.

I'm sure other facilities had other ways of doing it, and we tried different ways, but there was always something that got in the way of it being truly 'self-scheduling'.

I like doing rotations over the past year, as I always know when I will be off, but it doesn't have the flexibility of self-scheduling', so I miss that.

I think large facilities with plenty of prn/pool staff, might be better able to pull off self-scheduling the way it was meant to be.

I think the guidelines have to be set out ahead of time, and you have to be firm with them to make it work.

Hope this helps!

weekend warrior, BSN, RN · Mar 17, 2006

1. how many beds do you have?

32

2. how many nurses play into the total mix?

160-180 ( icu 1:1 nursing )

3. how many different shifts do you have (we have 5)

same

4. does senority play a factor in who gets first dibs?

no , this would cause alot of problems keeping staff. especially since most of the senior nurses are part time, and the newer full time.

5. what constitues a weekend?

friday nights ( not days ) and only if you work a sat or sun on the same weekend. sat and sun days or nights

6. do people have to rotate shifts?

no, we require 50/50 days and nights and the appropriate amount of weekend shifts according to your fte, though the ratio of days and nights is not a big deal , it all balances it out. it's just there to call you on it, in case there is a problem, but usually there isn't. but weekends they are stickier about.

7. who gets to sign up first for the schedule.

we are divided into 4 permanent priority picking groups. with the right amount of full time/ part time, senior staff to new staff in each.

the 4 groups take turns in order. ie. groups abcd, current schedule group a picks first for 4 days, then b for 4 days, c for 4 days, d for 4 days. then the next schedule group b first, c, d, a, next c, d, a, b etc...

you are locked out of the computer schedule system if it is not your day to pick. if you miss your days to pick, then you have to wait until all the groups have picked before you put in . this prevents people from getting lax about it, and picking whenever they feel like it.

8. what region is the hospital that you work in?

i'm in ontario canada

stat holidays we do in pairs.. ie easter and may long weekend, july and aug , labour day and thanksgiving.. you have to work one of each pair.

christmas and ny,s is another story with different guidelines.

if you are off the long weekend, then you must work the day before or after if available , these shifts are always short. those with it off want a stretch off, and those working the long weekend aren't going to pick them up either.

scheduling faciliators take turns with the schedule. after everyone puts in, they count up the numbers and make sure everyone is doing what they are supposed to, and ask some to change where there are needs.

we've been self scheduling for a long long time now.

good luck!

stn2003, RN · Mar 17, 2006

1. How many beds do you have?

32 tele beds.

2. How many nurses play into the total mix?

55-60ish.

3. How many different shifts do you have (we have 5)

2-core 12 hour shifts-days or nights, but people can sign up for extra hours in 4-8-12 hour increments

4. Does senority play a factor in who gets first dibs?

Nope. First come, first serve when the schedule is out in the schedule book to be filled in.

5. What constitues a weekend?

Every third SAT-SUN for day shift and every third FRI-SAT for night shift

6. Do people have to rotate shifts?

People rotate weekends (work every third) but people do not have to rotate from days-nights. Some people do for extra time though : P craziness lol.

7. Who gets to sign up first for the schedule.

If you are lucky enough to be at work when the schedule is posted, you sign up first lol.

8. What region is the hospital that you work in?

Midwest

Ideally, we need 8 nurses and a CN to staff our unit when full, and we can get floats from the other floors to accomplish this, but our Managers put the schedule out a good two months in advance for a six week block so they can assess the needs of the unit, make any changes they might need to/discuss those changes with staff, and then post the schedule in plenty of time for people to take a copy home and know well in advance their hours. Seems to work pretty well.

Our night shifters are also *asked* to sign up for one-two sundays a month, because people generally don't sign up for them unless asked. Also doesn't seem to be a big problem.

Generally, people tend to have different sets of days that work well for their lifestyle- for example, I work with a nurse who can only work fri-sat-sun because that is when her hubby is home with her kids and she doesn't have other childcare. Other nurses like to work sun-mon-tues and have the rest of the week off, some nurses like to break their days up because they don't like to work multiples in a row. The flexibility is nice. People have the ability to trade days with other staff after the schedule is posted.

Hope this helps : )

moonshadeau, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, APN, NP, CNS · Mar 17, 2006

Elle, WOW 1:1 nursing Sign me up.

Thanks for the responses everyone. Keep them coming.

LilRedRN1973 · Mar 18, 2006

1. How many beds do you have?

32 Beds (ICU: medical, surgical, and trauma)

2. How many nurses play into the total mix?

Hmm..not too sure, but I think it's around 150 or so (and there are travelers in there as well)

3. How many different shifts do you have (we have 5)

Two, day and night (0645-1915 and 1845-0715) There are a few 8 hour days here and there, mostly for those who are pregnant.

4. Does senority play a factor in who gets first dibs?

No, not at all

5. What constitues a weekend?

For nights, it's Fri/Sat/Sun nights and for days it's Fri/Sat/Sun

You must work 4 weekends shifts a month and one of those has to be a Saturday

6. Do people have to rotate shifts?

If you are new to the unit (i.e. less than 5-7 years) and you want to work days, you will rotate back and forth each schedule (which is a month). But if you have been here for a while and work days, you don't have to rotate and you don't ever have to rotate if you are on nights (thank God since I'm a night owl)

7. Who gets to sign up first for the schedule.

We have what is called Preferred Scheduling. You submit the preferred days you would like to work (3 days/week) and the supervisors make every attempt to fit you in. A plan sheet comes out with all of the RN's preferred days typed in and at the bottom, there is the total number of RN's on for each day. The number must be around 23-24, I think and all of us are expected to "balance" the plan sheet to this number. You do this by crossing out what is typed in and penciling in where you are needed, if you can do so. Then the plan sheet is taken away, the new "balanced" plan sheet is put out and we have to further balance it out (because it's NEVER balanced the first time around). If nobody makes an effort to move themselves, they will be moved, especially if it's someone who routinely does not move themselves.

8. What region is the hospital that you work in?

I work in northern NV.

I love self scheduling; it works great for this unit, I think.

Melanie = )

Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN · Mar 18, 2006

Help! I sit on a new scheduling commitee that is pondering self-scheduling. There is so much negativity in the unit that believe it won't work. I need help to prove them wrong. If anyone has self-scheduling and is willing to share their guidelines I would be most grateful. We really need this to keep our staff.
1. How many beds do you have?
28
2. How many nurses play into the total mix?
Don't know - we have both RNs and RPNs and they fill in separately.
3. How many different shifts do you have (we have 5)
Many - D8, D12, E, N12, N8 plus four hours shifts.
4. Does senority play a factor in who gets first dibs?
No
5. What constitues a weekend?
Sat/Sun - D, E, N- shift must be consistent.
6. Do people have to rotate shifts?
We do 40% shifts.
7. Who gets to sign up first for the schedule.
We do 6 weeks at a time, and are broken into 3 groups. Group 1 fills in first 2 weeks, then 2nd 2 weeks, then 3rd 2 weeks. At the same time, Group 2 wil fill in the 2nd 2 weeks, then 3rd 2 weeks then 1st two weeks. Group 3 starts will the last 2 weeks and so forth. This way, every gets first dips at at least 2 weeks.
Full timers fill in first, then part timers, then remaining shifts are posted for casuals.
Schedule comes out every 6 weeks, we work about 2 months in advance. the whole year is planned out, so everyone knows when the next schedule comes out.
(if you send me your address privately, I can mail you a copy of our worksheet)
8. What region is the hospital that you work in?
Ontario, Canada.

moonshadeau, ADN, BSN, MSN, RN, APN, NP, CNS · Mar 18, 2006

"5. What constitues a weekend?

For nights, it's Fri/Sat/Sun nights and for days it's Fri/Sat/Sun

You must work 4 weekends shifts a month and one of those has to be a Saturday"

RNinTraining- Do you mean 4 weekends a month or something else? I guess I don't know what you mean?

military spouse · Mar 18, 2006

I just came from a 50 bed med/surg unit. We worked only 12 hour shifts (unless they were desperate). People were generally hired for nights and then put their name on a list to move to days. Nurses put the days they wanted to work on a schedule with the dates at the top and all the nurses names along the side. Per-diem's days could not be changed, only eliminated. Full-time generally got what they wanted and some changes were made to part-time, but generally minimal. I worked with a group of nurses that were capable of looking at the schedule and anticipating holes. Days worked 2 weekends per month (Sat/Sun) and nights worked 2 weekend (Fri/Sat). One could choose to work a total of 4 weekend shifts, but seperate it throughout the month. For example, many months I would work every Sunday. I think it works really well when there are only twelve hour shifts, but I can't imagine scheduling like this for a variety of shift hours. Also, one or two nurses took the responsibility to make the "official schedule." This generally took about 4 hours a month and could be done at home. Good luck!

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Mar 19, 2006

I hate self-scheduling for the OR. I'm sure for other floors it's fine.

If you have a busy room assignment (and most of our 12 and 10 hour people DO), you get what's left, because you're one of the last to sign up, and let me tell you, it sucks. Someone want to tell me how that is freedom for those that are assigned to busy rooms, and are unable to get to the schedule till the end of the work day?

palesarah · Mar 19, 2006

At my previous hospital, for self-scheduling, we all filled out a blank schedule for the shifts we wanted and handed those in to someone who agreed to be in charge of scheduling for a period of time. She'd fill in the master schedule, and we'd have a meeting where we would work out the changes (taking people off heavy shifts to cover days people haven't signed up for). Meeting wasn't mandatory, some people always went, some people never went, and if you weren't there and changes needed to be made with your schedule someone would usually try to call you before making the changes but it wasn't guaranteed (which is why I always tried to make it to the meetings). That system worked very well for the floor, which was had 10 LDRP rooms, 4 triage rooms, and 3 postpartum/gyn/overflow rooms plus a small level 2 nursery that usually had 1-4 babies. There were about 30 nurses on staff, I think, and each shift was generally staffed with 5-7 RNs, mostly 7-7 Everyone did every other weekend (Saturday-Sunday), and we were generally required to do 3 Fridays each 6 week schedule also. Some people would do Fridya-Saturday and the next Sunday, most did Sat-Sun and the alternate Friday, whatever worked.

Current hospital also self-schedules- the director hangs up a schedule, everyone signs up for what they want, and she evens things out in the end. This is a 25-bed postpartum unit with well-baby nursery, somewhere between 40-60 nurses on staff, 5 different shifts. I'm not sure what system they use to figure out who has to move to a different day; I'm only per diem there and we schedule differently. I haven't worked anywhere where self-scheduling was done on a "first come first served" kind of basis though, as it seems is done elsewhere by reading some of these posts.

pbrn2001 · Mar 19, 2006

We have a 47bed unit (med-surg: ortho, neuro, general, etc.). About 60 staff. We have 3 8hr shifts (days, eves, nites), but some people choose to work 16hrs or weekends only. We do not rotate shifts. Our weekends are Sat/Sun (day & eve shifts) or Fri/Sat (nite shift). I place the blank schedule with everyone's name on it in the schedule book, which they have about 1-2months to complete it (the due date is written it). If they do not write anything down, then I fill in the blanks. Senority does not play a factor (because then the ones that have been there for 20+ years would take advantage of the new grads), so it's filled out first come first serve. We make sure that it is known that the self-schedule they write is what their preference to work is, but not set in stone of what they are going to work. I would say that most people get what they want, but it doesn't make sense to have 10nurses working on some days (esp. low census days) and 4nurses working on other days (esp. high census days). Some of them just don't get it, which is why balancing has to be done.

After picking up the filled-in blank schedules, I enter everything into the system. Then I take it home and balance it (yes, move some people around--but I try to take turns so that I'm not always changing the same person). This takes me 2-4hours (I like to do the balancing at home since there aren't others around). Then I put the final changes back into the system and distribute.

I'm in Texas. For the most part, self-scheduling works. There are those that complain, but it's usually the same people that complain about everything.