We have been trying to get some specific help out there for the healthcare industry. Scheduling in a healthcare environment can be challenging. First, you are scheduling for a 24 hour facility. Next, nurses can work anywhere from eight to 16 to 24 hour shifts, and sometimes longer! Next, there are specific skills an certifications that must be accounted for. Finally, you must account for the policies inherent in a union environment. That's a lot of variables we have to plan for in Workforce. Here are a few features in the basic scheduling application in Workforce Timekeeper that may help out.
Schedule Templates: Fast to apply and minimize scheduling errors in Workforce
When scheduling shifts that vary, try using shift templates. Most healthcare organizations using Kronos are big into shift templates. Why? They are easy and pretty mistake proof. So long as you can select your shift properly, you are good to go. Shift templates also allow for multiple shifts with the same start and stop times. Departments may have different lunch lengths, or other configuration settings that change the total shift hours. When this occurs, applying the correct shift template goes a long way to making sure the employee’s hours are correct.
Shift Editor: View the start times, stop times and totals for error free scheduling in Workforce
If you have to apply shifts manually, it is a good idea to use the shift editor to recording them. You have a different cell for start time and end time. You see a total shift hours cell. If you fat finger a time, the total will look odd. Take the time to review your total before saving the shift. If something looks wrong, it probably is.
Skills and Certifications: Know what your nurses know, and track it in Workforce
Schedule for skills and certifications are vital in a hospital. Obviously, all of your nurses must know CPR, but do you know when that certification expires? Would you like to know how many of your nurses speak Spanish? The Kronos people editor can hold this information, a skill (something you just know, like speaking Spanish) and a certification (Something learned earning the learner a certification, with an expiration date, like a CPR certification) are both tracked, and that information can be used in the advanced scheduler to ensure you have a nurse in every shift who speaks Spanish, and that all of your nurses are up to date on their specific certifications.
The Advanced Scheduler: Oh what it can do!
There are a lot of special pay situations for nurses with union ties. Most all of these pay situations should be handled in the configuration of Kronos, allowing for automatic totalizing for things like shift differentials, worked holiday pay and overtime calculations. Still, how do you know who to call to fill a shift at the last minute? Often, in a union environment, seniority is the defining characteristic. Kronos' Advanced Scheduler can take this into consideration when suggesting a nurse to fill a shift. Remember that several of the features noted here are part of the advanced scheduler only. If you are using Kronos basic scheduling, you will have to do these things manually. Something to think about when the next version of Kronos comes your way!
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