Weekend operating room on call staffing requirements

AORN J. 2001 Nov;74(5):664-5, 668-71. doi: 10.1016/s0001-2092(06)61765-1.

Abstract

This article describes a statistical method used to determine the minimum number of OR teams that should be on call for urgent procedures, in-house versus on standby from home, to minimize labor costs. The OR manager obtains the number of ORs staffed at each hour of the 24-hour period of interest (e.g., 7 AM Saturday to 7 AM Sunday) from the surgical suite's information system. The minimum number of total staffed hours needed to care for patients is calculated for a prespecified level of the acceptable risk of inadequate staffing. A method used to determine whether each staff member should work in-house or on standby from home then is introduced. This method enumerates all possible combinations of shifts to find the one with the lowest cost, and it ensures a prespecified service level. An example based on 248 weeks of data collected from a large surgical suite is presented, and staffing for emergency procedures is reviewed.

MeSH terms

  • Costs and Cost Analysis
  • Emergencies
  • Holidays
  • Humans
  • Midwestern United States
  • Models, Statistical
  • Nurse Anesthetists / organization & administration
  • Operating Room Nursing* / organization & administration
  • Operating Rooms*
  • Personnel Staffing and Scheduling / organization & administration*
  • Risk Factors
  • Surgical Procedures, Operative / nursing*
  • Time Factors
  • United States
  • Workforce