title: Developing strategies for on-call staffing: a working guideline for safe practices.
abstract: Effective on-call clinical staffing is critical to providing perioperative services to patients requiring emergency surgical care. Without careful monitoring of continuous work hours and hours worked per week, staffing practices can adversely affect the ability of personnel to function and provide care. Managers and perioperative personnel must carefully evaluate their on-call schedule to ensure the provision of safe medical care for their patients. Perioperative leaders at two hospitals partnered to create a safety guideline for on-call staffing practices, which includes zone guides for determining workload intensity. This guideline has served to help managers evaluate the general safety of their staffing plan and identify on-call practices that may need improvement or support in their areas of responsibility. Key recommendations from the guideline can help perioperative managers at other facilities establish clinical staffing plans and on-call practices that are safe and effective.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olmstead
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Falcone
authors.forename: Jacy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mislan
authors.forename: Marialena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: Toni
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Acello
mesh_terms: D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health; D061214:Patient Safety; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014481:United States
keywords: call coverage; call shifts; call staffing; continuous work hour practices; extended work hours; off-shift schedules; on-call guidelines; on-call practices; safe staffing levels; zone guide