| Sumario: | [Editor's Note: This article won Honorable Mention in the 1994 American Journal of Nursin/Pennsylvania Nurses Association Excellence in Writing Program] A study was conducted at the Harrisburg State Hospital on the impact of automated scheduling in the Department of Nursing. Managerial surveys and a time-motion study depicted supervisors' time usage and constraints and provided baseline data prior to the implementation of an automated scheduling system. Key components of both studies are used to contrast the use of computerized scheduling versus manual scheduling in the evaluation of time management. Manually completing nursing schedules in long-term facilities consumes a significant amount of time. According to Bellinger and Laden, as much as four to eight hours are spent weekly on nursing staff scheduling. Davis and Loving point out that 'the main problems with the manual scheduling systems were the high labor cost associated with the system; inequities in applying established scheduling policies; and the amount of time incurred by the professional staff in the development and modification of each schedule.' Therefore, scheduling nursing services has become the most laborious and burdensome problem for health care facilities not only because of the high cost, but because of the direct effect on patient care. Faced with this growing problem, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare is implementing automated scheduling software for all facilities with 24 hour or multiple shift operations. In an effort to assess the effects of automated scheduling in our facility, a study was conducted to provide baseline data on manual scheduling to compare and contrast with automated scheduling.
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