Question

A flextime system has been introduced at a health-care facility. The nurse-manager should take what action to address the consequences of this staffing system?

1) Limiting flextime to those staff members who have at least 2 years experience on the unit
2) Providing incentives to ensure daytime weekday shifts are sufficiently staffed
3) Ensuring that overtime can be used to fill times when there is insufficient staffing
4) Working to promote continuity of care when there are multiple start times and end times for staff

Answer 1

To manage consequences of a flextime system in healthcare, incentives should be offered for staffing difficult shifts, use overtime effectively, and ensure continuity of care.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a health-care facility introduces a flextime system, a nurse-manager can address the staffing consequences by focusing on continuity of care despite varied start and end times of shifts. Specifically, providing incentives is an effective method to ensure that daytime weekday shifts are adequately staffed. Moreover, establishing a system to manage overtime is crucial to address instances of insufficient staffing. Finally, it's important to limit the application of flextime to more experienced staff members, where appropriate, to maintain a high standard of patient care.