F
or many organizations, the reality of data-driven staffing is not a
question of budget or technology. It's a matter of perception and
changing traditional attitudes.
Interestingly, approximately 40 percent of finance and quality-focused
executives said staff attitudes toward data-driven staffing are the greatest
obstacle to implementing this strategy at their organizations. In fact,
attitudes trumped technology and dollars. Financial executives saw attitudes
as a greater obstacle than budget restrictions, which were ranked as the
smallest obstacle. Attitudes were even more concerning to executives than
technology in terms of what holds back data-driven staffing.
Executives encounter resistance to data for several reasons. First, many
hospitals have grown comfortable with the status quo. Change to traditional
workforce staffing methodologies are met with scrutiny and doubt, even
though the traditional opinion-based staffing measures may no longer be
effective. "The attitude most worrisome to me is the insistence on utilizing the
'staffing factors we've always used,' as if that has any relevance to whether
staffing is actually appropriate or not," said the ED manager at a 300-hospital
in the Midwest.
Speaking of traditional, utilizing matrixes and nurse-to-patient ratios remain
the most familiar staffing method for most hospitals. In some organizations,
ratios are used out of habit and familiarity — not so much for their ability
to paint a clear picture of patient and staffing needs. The vice president
of patient care services and CNO at a children's hospital in the South said
she sees nurses getting caught up in ratios. She made an effort to reframe
conversations and decisions about staffing, but encountered resistance from
nurses. "I try to talk in hours of care needed for our patients, not ratios," she
said. "This has gained some momentum, but culturally, is very difficult to sell."
CHANGING PERCEPTIONS
AND ATTITUDES FOR
BETTER STAFFING
