A hospital has a huge amount of demands on its time and resources. One of the biggest issues all hospitals face is having the right number and quality of staff available to ensure the best possible care is offered to every patient. In fact, this can be extremely difficult to achieve successfully. Hospitals generally have extremely limited budgets, which have to be used to get the best possible staff; the focus of this is surgeons, consultants and experienced, qualified doctors. While nurses are an essential part of the care procedure, they tend to be the least qualified members of the medical staff team, while also being the most abundant.

Most hospitals therefore choose to have a limited number of permanent nursing staff on their books; the remaining nurse required daily are usually obtained from either an agency or from a local medical school which needs to find clinical placements for its students.  Unfortunately, this is an incredibly complex area as the amount and quality of the student nurses is difficult to predict.  It is also virtually impossible to manage this part of the staffing team from within the hospital’s own system; there are simply too many variables and last minute changes to make it possible for everyone involved to know what is going on.  The answer is to use the student nurse scheduling software.

Companies such as Rotation Manager Offer a comprehensive software package which is designed to create a link between the hospital and the college / training school.Each student is registered on the software; the hospital can see which clinical rotation they need to complete and allocate their time accordingly.  There are several factors involved when choosing a student nurse scheduling software package; the following points should help to ensure you choose the right one.

Connectivity

The most important part of any student nurse scheduling software is that it provides a direct link from the hospital to the student.  This means a direct relationship can be formed which will improve the service that the hospital offers to the student and vice versa.  This direct link will also allow the hospital to check when a student is available, what rotations they still need to complete and schedule them in accordingly.  The student can then see their clinical rotations and plan their time accordingly.  This eliminates potential issues through lack of communication or understanding.

Flexibility

The ability to check on a student or clinical rotation in real time allows the hospital and the student to be as flexible as possible regarding when they can complete their clinical rotations and when they will be available to simply assist the hospital.  This is an important part of building relationships and potentially locating a job in the future.  The system must allow this level of flexibility.

Reputation

Of course, before you commit to any type of software you will want to ensure you are choosing the right one for your needs.  There are several ways of checking; the first is by looking on the software provider’s website to see if there are any testimonials.  These will almost always be positive but may give an indication as to any areas the software is particularly good or bad at.

The second option is to talk to your colleagues, in your hospital and in others, particularly if you know someone who is using the software.  They will be able to provide valuable insight into how well the system operates and any issues they have faced.

Finally, it is always advisable to check the social media platforms.  Although it is unlikely that another hospital will have entered any negative comments, a positive one will stand out and should be noted.  More importantly, social media will allow you to connect with student nurses who will provide an honest assessment of their experience with a specific student nurse scheduling software firm.

Mobility

In general, the hospital coordinators will be checking and allocating rotations from their computer screens while sitting at their desks.There is little need for them to have mobile access to the service.  However, the student nurses may wish to access their accounts while on the move; they may wish to confirm a rotation, change their availability or simply plan their diary for the coming week whilst visiting a friend.  For this reason it is important to consider how easily a student can access the software; after all, it is supposed to be a link between the hospital and the student.

Checks

The best student nurse scheduling software solutions will enable the hospital to perform background checks on any student. This can highlight any issues, as well as ensure that the student being assigned meets the hospital’s credentials and minimum requirements..  This will ensure it appears random whilst allowing the hospital to verify the suitability of any specific nurse.

Data Storage

Most hospitals already have a massive amount of data stored on their servers; they have little need to store additional information, especially as much of it is only relevant for a very short period of time.  Instead, the data should be stored on the student nurse scheduling software and simply accessed by the hospital.  This will ensure the data is secure but still remains easy to access.  This also protects the students from data corruption as much of their medical records and achievements will be kept on the database; if it is isolated from the main hospital data base it is less likely to be corrupted.

The right student nurse scheduling software can be easily located by completing a little homework and even testing the software to confirm it is the right one for your needs. It is almost guaranteed to make a fundamental differenceto the way you handle your student rotations and clinical placements and, as a consequence, will allow you to offer a superior service to all your patients.  It will also provide the student with an easy means of knowing when they are required and when they are able to study or use their free time for an alternative purpose.