At the annual congress of the Nursing Management Section in Bled on October 12 and 13, Algit, Četrta pot, and Idrija Psychiatric Hospital presented a best practice example of implementing the WoShi and Kadris 4 systems. Mag. Urban Bole, MSc in Nursing, shared his perspective on the solution and how it enables faster scheduling, provides a better overview of the ongoing activities, and, most importantly, allows employees to make better use of their leave, resulting in increased satisfaction among those involved in the processes.
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How to achieve an even workload in a 24/7 environment?
The incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into workforce scheduling and absence/presence management systems has revolutionized the approach to work and significantly boosted employee productivity in a round-the-clock work environment.
In healthcare, the question often arises: are staffing shortages a genuine problem, or is the real challenge an effective allocation of existing resources?
Idrija Psychiatric Hospital (PB Idrija) faced challenges in staff scheduling and workload management due to the classic scheduling system following the Morning-Morning-Afternoon-Afternoon-Night-Night shifting. That led to uneven workloads, overwhelming key personnel responsible for task allocation, and a lack of transparency of knowledge and skills of employees
EMPLOYEE WORK ORGANIZATION
In the Idrija Psychiatric Hospital, employees are on duty around the clock, seven days a week, maintaining a continuous 24-hour work schedule.
Consequences of initial scheduling system:
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- 1.200 hours of uneven work allocation per month.
- Overload of key personnel, especially those responsible for scheduling.
Other challenges brought by the original system
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- Scheduling rigidity – limited possibility for
simulatons of different schedules. - Time-consuming manual scheduling.
- The perception of staff shortage – 15 % of employees were often missing from the job.
- Manual hour recording and retyping data from system to system.
- Knowledge and skills transparency – head nurse had to know all the information by heart.
- Scheduling rigidity – limited possibility for
GOAL
To change the way of work and the process of creating schedules.
WHY?
For equal workload of all employees and for the transfer of knowledge related to work schedules.
HOW?
With digitization of our processes and by integrating the artificial
intelligence application WoShi for work scheduling and the
system for time attendance KADRIS 4: RIS.
CONCERNS?
Willingness to change, but at the same time fear for the
lack of knowledge to manage the system.
RESULT
- Even workload for everyone involved.
- Reduction of sick leaves and overtime hours.
- Faster and more transparent scheduling of employees.
- Simulations of schedules with different work methods.
Client’s wishes
- Even workload forall employees.
- Listed skills and competences of employees or competency matrix.
- Automatic data transfer or two-way communication between the system for time attendance and the workers scheduling
application. - Application which supports automatic scheduling based on defined parameters.
WoShi enables new dimensions when it comes to scheduling.
IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE
January – March 2023
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- Data and demands input.
- Schedule simulations, criteria and conditions adjustment.
- User training.
- 4 live meetings and some phone calls.
March 2023
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- First schedule created by WoShi used in hospital
March – August 2023
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- Data synchronization between systems (e.g.
employees, shifts, skills,etc.). - Establishing a secure connection between systems.
- Connection created: Woshi – KADRIS 4: RIS.
- Data synchronization between systems (e.g.
Why Woshi and KADRIS 4: RIS?
- Price.
- Business solution flexibility and accessibility.
- Understanding client’s needs and fast response.
- The possibility of finishing and adapting the system to the requirements of the work process.
BUSINESS RESULTS
With 11 % less employees the hospital was able to create a more “workload even” schedules for everyone involved, and the vacation leave was increased by 20 %.
2 %
less sick leaves over 30 days.
23 %
less sick leaves below 30 days.
71 %
less uneven workload.
56 %
less overtime hours.
Uneven workload has decreased significantly, which means that the way of working has changed. However, the final picture of how the employee receives his schedule for the next period has not changed. They still get it the same way as before, printed for each department.
The next step is to improve the employee experience by removing the “Book of Wishes” and involving employees in the processes by allowing them to enter their vacation and shift preferences in KADRIS 4: RIS. This way, we will provide them with access and transparent insight into the current work schedule.
CLIENT’S BENEFITS
- Equal workloads for employees in the reference period.
- Clear recording of working hours in accordance with the new Act on Mandatory Labor Records (ZEPDSV-A).
- Better and more efficient handling of substitutions (a clear review of employees’ hours makes it easier for the scheduler to choose an employee to replace the absent one).
- Faster creation of schedules that include employee preferences.
- Simulations of creating different schedules with different work methods.
- Quick and easy announcement of vacations, wishes and other preferences of employees.
IMPACT SUMMARY
Our solution brought greater transparency and efficiency to the management of working hours and scheduling of employees in PH Idrija. The system reduced the costs of unevenly distributed working time, overtime and sick leave for nearly 50.000 € in the first year of use, and enabled a better use of annual leave for all employees. Despite initial concerns, the hospital is now prepared for the future, including new legal requirements and staffing changes.
WANT TO KNOW MORE
If you want to know, how we can inplement our solution into your system, let us know. We are happy to help.
