A Staffing Tool to Improve Efficiency at a Nursing Department

Abstract

The paper suggests a staffing tool to improve efficiency at a nursing department of a local hospital. The managers consider they are understaffed and try to overwhelm the staffing deficit problem through overtime, rather than hiring additional nurses. The estimates indicate that the shortage at the hospital level corresponds to 300 full time equivalent (FTE) nurses. However, the huge amount of allocated budget for overtime becomes a concern since the deficit is not accurately estimated. Indeed, the suggested staffing tool shows that some nursing units are unnecessarily overstaffed. Moreover, the current study reveals that the real deficit is of only215 FTEresulting in a potential saving of 28%.