Improving staffing with a resource management plan.

To change from a crisis to a proactive mode for staffing, scheduling, resource pool utilization, information management, and unit workload, nursing leaders developed a resource management plan. Changes that assisted in achieving that goal included: revision of department scheduling guidelines, elimination of day shift central supervisor, responsibility for daily staffing moved to unit-based managers, creation of a staffing model for the nursing resource pool staff, establishment of ideal complement of positions for every unit, expectation for unit to meet its staffing model every shift, reinforced department efforts to fill vacant positions, participation in computerized databases to study the use of resources, and identified critical staffing indicators for each unit.