ECRI Institute white paper on staffing and scheduling

Editor's Note

The ECRI Institute has issued a white paper titled, “Responsive staffing and scheduling in aging services: A systems rethinking approach.”

Problems in staffing and scheduling can lead to potentially dangerous conditions, which can cause performance gaps in delivery of care and services. To better address these problems, providers need to take a systems thinking approach.

This white paper presents an example of such an approach, termed “responsive staffing,” which is staffing and scheduling that are stable and flexible and respond to an organization’s needs, determined through analysis and critical thinking over a 24-hour day and a 365-day year.

Problems in staffing and scheduling can lead to a multitude of potentially dangerous conditions including poor morale, diminished job satisfaction, a lack of team cohesion, and mismatches between workload and available staff-all of which can lead to performance gaps in the delivery of care and services.