Picture this: It is Chinese New Year, your ward is understaffed, and yet another colleague asks for time off. What do you do?
As much as you want to approve his leave, you’re not sure whether you could. Because you haven’t taken the time to arrange schedules for your ward yet.
What if you approved it, and later had to call him back due to staff shortages? That would be pretty annoying for both of you.
Today, I’ll show you how to make that decision confidently. And it will only take you a few minutes.
Here’s how.
The Power of Mathematical Rostering
Mathematical rostering isn’t just about creating schedules. It’s a powerful tool that can help you make quick, confident decisions about leave requests, even in challenging situations like holiday seasons.
How It Works
- Feed your rostering system with current staff availability, including existing approved leaves.
- Run the model using your mathematical solver to attempt creating a schedule that meets all constraints
- If a valid schedule is produced, you can confidently approve the leave. If not, you know it’s not feasible without compromising your staffing requirements
💡 Key Benefit: This approach allows you to make decisions with 100% certainty, eliminating guesswork and reducing stress for both managers and staff.
Advantages of This Approach
- Speed: Get an answer in seconds, not hours.
- Confidence: Make decisions based on data, not intuition.
- Fairness: Ensure all leave requests are evaluated objectively.
- Proactivity: Identify potential staffing issues before they become critical
Real-World Example
Let’s say Nurse Chen wants to take leave from February 10-15. You input this request into your mathematical rostering system along with all other current data. Within seconds, the system tells you:
- If Chen’s leave is approved, all shifts can still be covered.
- Minimum staffing levels are maintained for all days.
- No other staff member’s work conditions (e.g. maximum consecutive days) are violated.
With this information, you can confidently approve Chen’s leave request, knowing it won’t cause staffing issues.
Implementing This Approach
To use mathematical rostering for leave approvals:
- Set up a mathematical model of your staffing requirements and constraints.
- Use a solver that can quickly process these models (many are available, from open-source to commercial options).
- Export your result as excel.
- Train your management team on using and interpreting the system.
Conclusion
By leveraging mathematical rostering, you can transform the leave approval process from a source of stress and uncertainty to a quick, confident decision-making tool.
It makes your job easier, and also improves staff satisfaction by providing quick, accurate responses to leave requests.
💡 Want to learn more about implementing mathematical rostering in your healthcare facility? Check out our comprehensive guide at https://8-hours.com.hk/e-book for detailed instructions and best practices. We only give out 20 copies each week so act now before it runs out of stock!