Texting staff to cover call off's

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

We text each other to cover shifts, for call off's, for requests and it works really well and is less invasive way of asking somebody to cover call offs.

We have been doing this for a few months and it seems to work well.

Staff will answer and say yes or no quickly where as if you phone they either ignore the phone or have it switched off.

Has anybody else heard of this or tried it out on your unit?

Staff say they feel less guilty when saying no, plus if they want to think about and then say no it is not as personal as a phone call.

We dont put any pressure on staff to cover but if they do we reward them in a monthly draw for a gift card.

[Fribblet]

Sounds good in theory, but in reality, I'd make sure that work only had my home phone were that the case.

I don't want my monthly text allowance being used up by my place of employment. Unless, of course, they're willing to pay for part of my cell phone bill.

[madwife2002, BSN, RN]

Sounds good in theory, but in reality, I'd make sure that work only had my home phone were that the case.

I don't want my monthly text allowance being used up by my place of employment. Unless, of course, they're willing to pay for part of my cell phone bill.

Good point Most of the staff have unlimited messaging but they wouldnt use much the most we would text is a few times a week

[JenniferSews]

Our staffer does this, and it works very well for her. When I was on call it was my responsibility to get the open shifts covered. Calling a list of 30+ people took forever, but she could text them and get the shift filled before I had called the first 10. If someone didn't want to be texted, they could be called.

[Fribblet]

Good point Most of the staff have unlimited messaging but they wouldnt use much the most we would text is a few times a week

Yeah, I think most people these days have unlimited texting. Personally, I'd prefer a text over a call if I had to choose between the two.

[marthyellen]

This is how we do most of our staffing too and it works great. If they do not have unlimited text or do not text, we call. We know who prefers to text.

[punkydoodlesRN, BSN, RN]

I work @ a facility as PRN and the staffing coordinator does most of her communication with the PRN nurses via text - I much prefer this. A simple no is much easier!! And we text her if we know of any availability. I really like it.

Just wanted to add that I do have unlimited texting, but unless I had NO texting plan I still probably wouldn't care because it's not like it's 10-20 msgs/day.

[CoffeeRTC, BSN, RN]

even tho I don't text much, I would probably like this. I normally get a message that from the staffing coord that asks me to call her back. I know that she needs someone to come in, but I've asked her to leave a more detailed message as to what shift and date..Ugh. I then would be able to ask hubby or family to watch the kids or see if it would work for me. Instead, I have to call her get the times, call around, call back and sometimes the shifts are taken.

Yeah...I'd take the text.

[April, RN, BSN, RN]

I prefer texts, too. I hate getting calls from work.

[scoochy]

Great idea, but workers at my place of employment are forever changing their phone #s. Personally, my employer does not have my cell phone #. Call me on my land line; if I chose to work extra, I will answer. Otherwise, the answer is no.

[teeniebert, LPN]

I read an article about this in Nursing2010...If it's online I'll post a link. Basically, they did a trial of texting via e-mail (most carriers have a way to send e-mail directly to the phone) and found that they filled shifts quicker that way. Also, since the messages went out to everyone at once, it eliminated the problem of those at the top of the list getting called every time, and those at the bottom of the list rarely getting the opportunity to pick up.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Sounds OK, but I would be wary. Once they have your cell number they have it forever, no matter what they choose to use it for.