WALISEN, SHARALINA C.

STAFFING
 Is the process of determining and providing the
acceptable number and mix of nursing personnel to
produce a desired level of care to meet the
patient’s demand

Purpose: to provide each nursing unit with an

appropriate and acceptable number of workers in
each category to perform the nursing tasks required.

NATURE OF STAFFING
STAFFING is a mutual process by which the individual
and the organization become match to form the
employment relationship.
Reasons increased the significance of
staffing :
Advancement of technology
Increased size of the organization
Long range need for manpower-future labor
turn over

High wage bill -if right type of person is not

appointed then management has to spend on
wages and procedure ,even though poor work
out put
Recognition of human relations –financial and
nonfinancial incentives
Factors influencing staffing pattern:
Pattern of delivery services
Standard of nursing care
Different type of activities performed
Size and type of unit

STAFF RELATED
The specific needs of various patient
populations should determine the appropriate
clinical competencies required of the nurse
practicing in that area
 RECRUITMENT:
Process of attracting the potential
employees to the organization
Sources of recruitment
Internal sources
External sources

INTERNAL SOURCES
Present permanent employees
Present temporary employees
Retired employees
Dependent of deceased, disabled, retired and
present employees
ADVANTAGES:
 Improves employ-employer relationship
 Develops sense of security
 Costs less
 Labor turnover is reduced
 Employees are motivated to perform better
 Suitability of internal candidate judged better than
external
 Suitability of employment can be ensured
EXTERNAL SOURCES
Purposes :
 Offers wide choices
 New entrants
 Invitation without any discrimination
 Best utilization of experience and trained personnel
 Expertise, experience ,excellence in other organization
SOURCES :
Campus recruitment
Own data bank
Advertisements
Third party method-employment exchange
Present employer
Deputation
Word of mouth—present employees
Trade union
Casual applicant
Educational institutions—placement cell
 RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Identifying the need to recruit

Identifying the job requirements
Deciding the sources of potential recruits
Deciding the selection method
Short listing the candidates
Selection of the successful candidates
Notifying the candidates of outcome
Appointing the successful candidate
SELECTION
the process of choosing the right candidate
from the pool of applicants
Steps of selection:
Screening and receiving the application
Conducting preliminary screening interview
Psychological tests
Background investigation
In depth Interview
Physical examination/medical examination
Final selection
placement
 Training and development
Is the process of developing knowledge, skills
and behavior in people that enable them to
better perform their current and future jobs
Training techniques
On the job
Off the job

On the job training

Coaching
Job rotation
Planned work activities
Off the job
Class room lecture Case studies
Roleplaying Programmed learning

Performance appraisal
Evaluating a workers performance and his
potential for development
Done through--- ranking method
rating scale
Peer review
Anecdotal record
checklist
SELECTION OF PERSONNEL

SCREENING
3 UNDERLYING PHILOSIPIES OF SCREENING
PROCESS
1. SCREEN OUT APPLICANTS WHO DO NOT
FIT THE COMPANY
2. MANAGER SHOULD TRY TO FIT THE JOB TO
PROMISING APPLICANT
3. FIT APPLICANT TO THE JOB
SELECTION OF PERSONNEL
RESUMES
Demographic Information

Educational Background

Work Experiences

DETERMINES APPLICANT’S MINIMAL

HIRING REQUIRMENT
INTERVIEW
FACE TO FACE CONTACT BETWEEN
APPLICANTS AND PERSON IN AUTHORITY
TO FILL IN THE POSITION

PRE-EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW
PURPOSES: TO
1. OBTAIN INFORMATION
2. GIVE INFORMATION
3. DETERMINE IF APPLICANT MEETTHE
REQUIRMENT FOR THE POSITION
TEST/EXAMINATIONS
MEASURES:
Clerical and mechanical Aptitude
Knowledge
Skills
General Intelligence
Mental, perceptual & psychomotor
abilities
 SCHEDULING
 Assigning work and off days to nursing
personnel to assure adequate patient care

Scheduling and allocation procedures are to

assign working days and days off to individual
members of the nursing staff in order to:

Provide adequate patient care while avoiding

overstaffing
Achieve a desirable distribution of off days
Treat individual members of the nursing staff
fairly
Let the personnel know well in advance
what their schedules are

GUIDELINES

1.Let it represent a balance between the

needs of the employee and the
employer(patient care).When conflicts arise ,
patient care should have priority
2. Distribute fairly the “good” and “bad” days off
among all employees.

3. Make all employees adhere to the established

rotation. Exceptions should be rare and granted
only if the employee is requesting two weekdays
off(working every weekend )All requests and
exceptions should be in writing and should specify
the period of time off requested.
4. Advance posting of time schedules so as to
allow employees plan their personal lives.
Doing so reduces absenteeism and request for
changes
5. Do not make time schedules a mystery nor use them
as a tool of control or discipline.

6. Come up with a mechanism for emergency changes

to accommodate both employee and employer

7. Make schedule conform with all labor laws, and

hospital and department policies

8. Provide correct numbers and mix of personnel,

allowing continuity, which is essential for quality care.

9. Be consistent in scheduling to enable work groups

develop teamwork, which contributes to quality care.
 STAFF SCHEDULING
Assessing a Scheduling System
1. Ability to cover the needs of the unit •
2. Quality to enhance the nursing personnel's
knowledge, training and experience
3. Fairness to the staff – fair share of weekends, holiday
offs, rotation patters for the whole year including
assignment to “difficult” or “light” or “undesirable” units
or shifts •
4. Stability – the schedule must be harmonized with their
family or social activities of the nurse staff •
5. Flexibility – ability to handle changes brought by
emergency leaves •
Centralized Scheduling
Based on master staffing pattern that is
carried out by one person who plans and
coordinate the schedule of the nurses.
The coordinator knows how many staff nurse
there are and their availability. The
coordinator is able to make necessary
changes in the rotation in case of illness or
emergencies that may unexpected arise.

Relieves the charge or head nurse from

non-nursing functions, freeing him or her for
more important administrative or nursing
responsibilities.
DECENTRALIZED SCHEDULING
Allows the manager to staff his or her own unit.
Nursing personnel feel hat they get personalized
attention because you are aware of their clinical
and personal needs and take these into
consideration when- planning for staffing
Time consuming, you should spend more time in
non-nursing functions rather than purely nursing
activities.

SELF- SCHEDULING
Is the process by which staff nurses in a unit
collectively decide and implement the monthly
work schedule. Given –the- criteria for adequate
unit staffing foe each 24-hour period by the head
nurse, each staff chooses which day and shift he
or she will work.
Cyclic scheduling

 is one way of staffing to meet the requirements of

equitable distribution of hours of work and time off.
A basic pattern for a certain number of weeks is
established and then repeated in cycles.

ADVANTAGE
• Once developed , it is permanent schedule, requires
only temporary adjustments.

• Nurses no longer have to leave in anticipation of

their time off duty, because it is scheduled 6 months
advance.
• Personal plans can be made in advance
Flex time
Nurses often want flexible scheduling to
better accommodate their personal lives.
Such scheduling options have, in fact
become an essential component of the job
satisfaction it resulted in improved attitudes
and increased productivity as employees
have gained more control over their work
environment.
Modified work week:

This using 10 and 12 hour shifts and other methods

are common place. A nurse administrator should
be sure work schedules are fulfilling the staffing
philosophy and policies, particularly with regard
to efficiency. Also, such schedules should not be
imposed on the nursing staff but should show a
mutual benefits to employer, employees and the
client served. It can be done by hour or by a
block of 3-4 hours
The weekend alternatives
another variation of flexible scheduling is the
weekend alternative. Nurses work two 12 hour
shifts and are paid for 40 hours plus benefits.
They can use the weekdays for continued
education or other personal needs.
Premium day weekend
 is a scheduling pattern that gives the nurse an
extra day off duty, called a premium day, when
he/she volunteers to work one additional
weekend worked beyond those required by
nurse staffing policy. This technique does not
add directly to hospital costs.
ESTIMATION OF NURSING STAFF
Proper or exact distribution of task, resources
and others
NEED
• Reduce medical and medication errors
• Decrease patient complications
• Decrease mortality
• Improve patient satisfaction
• Reduce nurse fatigue
• Decrease nurse burnout
• Improve nurse retention and job satisfaction
 SKILL MIX

A combination of skills available at a specific

time;
A mix of employees in a post;
A combination of activities that comprises each
role;
Differences across occupational groups such as
nurses and physicians or between various sectors
of the health system; or
A mix within an occupational group such as
between different types of nursing providers with
different level of training and different wage rates.
 FIELDS FOR SKILLMIX

Staff shortages
‘Inappropriate’ use of skills
Value for money/cost containment
Quality/outcomes problem
Understaffing
New approach/ideology
Staffing inequities
Changing case mix/patient dependencies
Establishing a new service
Changing roles
Service changes
New processes/procedure