Question

A family practice physician's office schedule is usually fully booked with patients scheduled every 15 minutes, but the MD routinely adds patients who have acute needs to the schedule resulting in delays in seeing patients, unpaid staff OT and staff complaints. The best solution for the nurse manager may be to:

A. Schedule staff later in the day
B. Suggest referring patient to ED
C. As for payment for any OT
D. Leave open slots in the schedule

Answer 1

The best solution for the nurse manager dealing with a fully booked schedule and acute patient add-ons is to leave open slots in the schedule to prevent work overload and staff complaints.

Step-by-step explanation:

In a family practice physician's office with a schedule that is fully booked and where patients are scheduled every 15 minutes, adding patients with acute needs can cause significant delays and increase work overload for the staff. The best solution for the nurse manager to alleviate this pressure and mitigate staff complaints, as well as prevent unpaid staff overtime, could be to leave open slots in the schedule specifically for patients with acute needs. This way, the clinic can better manage patient concerns and emergencies without disrupting the planned schedule as significantly. Instead of scheduling staff later in the day, suggesting referring patients to the ED, or asking for payment for any OT, which are temporary fixes, strategically adjusting the scheduling system to include buffering time might provide a more balanced approach to handle patient flow and care responsibilities.