An experience with the use of WISN tool to calculate staffing in a palliative care hospital in Brazil

Abstract

Background The article describes a healthcare staffing exercise that took place in a Cancer Hospital IV, Brazil’s first public palliative care unit. There are numerous gaps in the literature on specialized cancer staffing. Palliative care is a therapy modality that should begin with the diagnosis of a chronic disease, at which point the personnel must be technically and numerically adequate, as well as well-distributed, to provide coverage of the population that requires this type of care. Methods The WISN tool was chosen after a systematic review of the use of workload studies in palliative care, because it fulfills this objective. The WISN method is based on a health worker's workload, was developed in the late 1990s in the health sector and has been field-tested and implemented in several countries. Direct observation was used as the fieldwork approach, which was carried out by 18 research assistants with the assistance of two supervisors. They monitored 60 professionals in seven categories for 2 weeks on weekdays in the morning and afternoon periods: nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, medical, nutrition, psychology, and social services. Results Except for the medical staff, which at the time included additional physicians on loan from a partner institution to address a shortage in this professional group, all categories exhibited overload with WISN ratios ranging from 0.53 to 0.97. The analysis of time spent on individual activities indicated flaws with the services' informal organizations. The authors also noticed a strong emphasis on support activities and a lack of a clear schedule for training and research. The study's findings included a definition of standard activities for each professional group, an analysis and comparison of activities by categories, departments, and work shifts, a standard workload for training and research, and recommendations to include human resources planning as a fundamental part of a national policy for palliative care. Conclusions The WISN tool can be used to plan human resources in cancer centers that provide palliative care, and it provides for a variety of analyses that can be combined with other approaches in the literature.

Implementation Of The Workload Indicators Of Staff Needing Method Based On Workload To Determine The Right Number Of Human Resources Requirements At The Medical Rehabilitation Poly Of H.Abdul Manan Simatupang Kisaran Hospital In 2021

“…So that the hospital can determine the number of available human resources in one year more precisely so that the hospital's performance optimal. This is in line with research [14] where the use of the WISN method can be used to obtain the right human resources according to the needs of the hospital in treating patients.…”

Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) Method for Midwives Planning and Estimation at Asrade Zewude Memorial Primary Hospital, North west Ethiopia

“…The health facilities use WISN to understand the level of workload pressure, the cause of shortage or surplus and staff reassignment [ 20 , 22 ]. During the monitoring and the evaluation of the health system, WISN can be used for various purposes like enhancing human resources for health investment [ 23 , 24 ]; updating the system based on current sanctioning norms; managing task division among employees; managing health workforce; observing details in the work process that were not perceived as a source of work overload [ 25 – 27 ]. Most importantly, WISN can also be used for data quality improvement, health service quality improvement, staff satisfaction and patient satisfaction by matching each employee’s skills and competences with the right tasks in order to deliver a high-quality health service [ 28 ].…”

“…The health facilities use WISN to understand the level of workload pressure, the cause of shortage or surplus and reassign staff [20,24]. During monitoring and evaluation of health system, WISN can be used to enhance human resources for health investment [25,26]; to update current sanctioning norms; to decide what activities and tasks of a cadre should shift to other cadre; to effectively and e ciently manage health workforce ; to observe details in the work process that were not perceived as a source of work overload [27][28][29]. More importantly, WISN is used to improve the health sector headaches that are data quality improvement, health service quality improvement, staff satisfaction and patient satisfaction by ensuring scope of practice matches with the training received by speci c cadres, and assuring that those skills are being used at recommended workload to deliver quality health service [30].…”

Analysis Of Nurse Needs Using Workload Indicator Staff Need (WISN) Method

“…This WISN approach has the advantages of being simple to use, operate, apply, comprehensive, and realistic compared to other methods (Nursalam, 2017). The WISN method, developed in the health sector in the late 1990s and based on a health worker's workload, has been field-tested and put into use in several nations (Silva & Dal Poz, 2022). The Regulation of the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Number 33 of 2015 about Guidelines for Planning Health Human Resource Needs mentions the WISN technique of estimating human health resources (Permenkes Nomor 33 Tahun 2015, 2015.…”