Variable staffing: an alternative to traditional practice for pharmacy.
There are a variety of programs designed to monitor the utilization of hospital pharmacy labor and to measure fluctuations in workload. Few, however, address the problem of forecasting labor needs and adjusting staffing levels accordingly. This paper describes a system used by one hospital, whereby workload is correlated to census to provide variable staffing levels corresponding to fluctuating workload demands. This hospital's pharmacy uses a core level staff, supplemented by on call pharmacists and technicians. The following day's workload is forecast from the current day's level, and staff are scheduled accordingly.
D004526:Efficiency; D006744:Hospital Bed Capacity, 100 to 299; D006801:Humans; D009505:Nevada; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000379:methods; D010607:Pharmacy Service, Hospital; D000078329:Workforce