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When you work in a medical facility, no two days and no two shifts are ever the same. In hospitals that operate around the clock, it’s imperative to have every minute covered, let alone every hour. With day shifts generally operating between 8am and 5pm, and night shifts being worked from around 11pm until 8am, the swing shift typically comes in between the two, from approximately 3pm until 11pm.
Swing shifts get their name from day shift workers and night shift workers “swinging” to the evening shift so they’re never stuck working the same shift pattern for protracted periods of time. Working this second shift can often be grueling for staff. Scheduling these shift patterns is also difficult to do in the traditional manner.
With problems like child care and work/life balance, more and more medical departments are switching to shift scheduling software to fill these shifts. It’s true that shift-based businesses have a need to give more attention to staff schedules than in traditional “nine-to-five” industries. It’s crucial to ensure coverage needs are met, regulations are adhered to, budgets are maintained, patients are well cared for, and employees are not over or under worked.
Setting up shift schedules by hand is a thankless task when you take into consideration aspects such as being fair with allocation, managing time off, shift trade requests, general availability and the potential for unexpected changes. Medical staff scheduling software enables you to streamline the process while keeping all staff members informed throughout every step.
Benefits of Using Staff Scheduling Software
In addition to the benefits already mentioned, using physician scheduling software also provides the following:
- Employees can check their schedules well in advance of their shifts and can therefore work their home lives around these.
- Employees can inform managers in a timely fashion if they are unable to work certain hours.
- Employees can let managers know their designated shifts and via the software tool they’re easier to fill.
- Employees won’t always be scheduled to work the same swing shifts, so using software works out fairer.
- Employees receive shift notifications by push message, text or email.
- Employees can swap swing shifts and other shifts easily. Employers can approve or disapprove the swaps with the click of a button.
- Managers can share open and unfilled shifts with workers so they can decide whether they want to work a certain shift.
- Managers can see any potential shift scheduling conflicts with ease.
- Managers can access and have a convenient record of staff schedules both online, through their mobile devices, and in report form.
- Managers can keep an eye on overtime.
Using emergency medicine scheduling software helps you manage swing shifts fairly, minimizing potential stress and upheaval to your employees.
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