Open Shift Notifications

Note: This functionality is only available if your system is licensed for Open Shift Notification.

Open Shift Notifications gives you the ability to broadcast shift needs from within the Current Staffing Overview. Messages are sent to the selected employees via the broadcast methods decided upon by your organization. These methods may include a text message, an email, or a call from the interactive voice response system. Each message includes instructions on how to reply to the message to accept the shift. If an employee does not want to work the available shift, no action is required; they can disregard the message.

Depending on how your organization chooses to broadcast open shifts, employees who respond can either be accepted on a first come, first serve basis or be placed into a queue to be scheduled for the shift.

• First come, first serve

  When broadcasting for more than one available shift using the first come, first serve method, the first employees to respond are awarded the shifts until the shifts are filled. Once all the available shifts are given to responding employees, further responses to the message are disregarded and those employees receive a message indicating that the shifts are no longer available. The employees who receive the available shifts are automatically added to the schedule. No action is needed by a manager or staffing coordinator.

  Example: Two available shifts are broadcast to four employees. Samantha and Luis reply first. They receive messages that they are awarded the shifts and are automatically added to the schedule. David replies, but not in time. He receives a message that the shifts are no longer available. Sofia cannot work the shift and disregards the message (no response is needed).

• Queue

  Using the queue method gives you the opportunity to review the details, such as seniority, of those who want to fill the shift. This option requires a nurse manager or staffing coordinator to accept employees' requests for open shifts.

  Example: Two available shifts are broadcast to four employees. Samantha, Luis, and David reply. After reviewing the respondents' information, you select David and Samantha because they best match the need of the unit. They receive messages that they are awarded the shifts and are automatically added to the schedule. Luis receives a message that the shifts are no longer available. Sofia cannot work the shift and disregards the message (no response is needed).

Subscribe to Open Shift Event Notifications

Managers can receive event subscription notifications for their broadcasted shifts. There are two event subscriptions that you can subscribe to: when an employee accepts a shift and when open shifts are filled.

Note: You need a role assigned with the Open Shift Notifications policy, such as the SS Staffer role (or its equivalent replicated role).

To subscribe to the event subscriptions, complete the following steps.

1. Navigate to Preferences > My Preferences > Event Subscriptions and expand the Staffing card.
2. As needed, select the Portal and Email options.

   You will receive a notification whenever an event occurs for a shift that you broadcasted.

   • Employee Accepted Open Shift Broadcast - your message states "Employee Name accepted 1 of X Open Shifts available."
   • Close Open Shift Broadcast - your message states "All Open Shifts available were accepted. Open Shift is closed."
3. Click Save.

Broadcast open shifts

Instead of immediately scheduling an employee to an open shift, you can broadcast the available shift to a group of employees. The employees receive a notification about the shift and can reply if they are interested in working it.

To send an Open Shift Notification broadcast, complete the following steps.

1. If needed, change the day and coverage period.
2. Click the Qualified Staff tab.
3. Select the profile.
   1. Click a profile group, such as RN.
   2. In the expanded profile area, select a profile, such as RN2.

      A list of employees who are qualified to work appears in the list.

4. If needed, you can filter, sort, and compare employees to decide who will receive the broadcast message.

   For more information about the employee list, see Qualified Staff tab.

   • Click the filter symbol to open a list of filtering options.

     These filter options allow you to tailor the staff list to help you find the best matching employee for the shift. For example, you can filter for only qualification Level 1 and Receives Broadcast, then select all the employees and broadcast to this smaller group.

     • On Call - displays employees with an on-call activity code scheduled
     • Overstaffed - displays employees in an organization unit that is determined to be in an overstaffed situation
     • Float Staff - displays employees whose home labor distribution is a float organization unit
     • Productive Schedule - displays employees who are scheduled with productive schedules
     • Not Scheduled - displays employees who do not have a schedule
     • Matching Shifts - displays employees whose home labor distribution contains the same shift defined for the selected coverage period
     • Qualification Levels - displays employees who match the selected qualification level
     • Receives Broadcast - displays employees who have a phone or email notification method set up
   • Sort the staff list within each qualification level by clicking the column names in the header row. There may be additional pages of employees; click the page numbers to move to the next set of employees.
   • Compare employee information by selecting at least one employee from the Roster and then clicking Compare. From the Compare Staff dialog box, you can:
     • Compare the staffing details of the selected employees, such as overtime, seniority, and on call information.
     • Link to an employee's TCS (Time Card Screen) in a new browser window by clicking an employee's name.
     • Expand an employee row to view a two-week calendar to see the employee's scheduled activities.
     • Assign employees to open shifts. For more information about assigning employees, see Assign a Transaction here: Using Current Staffing Overview.
     • Broadcast open shift notifications to the selected employees.

     When done comparing, close the Compare Staff dialog box.

5. From the Qualified Staff list or the Compare Staff dialog box, select the employees you want to send the Open Shift Notification to.
6. Click Broadcast or the broadcast icon from the Compare Staff dialog box.
7. In the Broadcast Shift dialog box, fill out the broadcast details.
   • Notification Type - This option only appears for organizations that are set up to choose how to handle responses for each broadcast.
     • Queue - Places responders into a queue where a scheduler or nurse manager can schedule them

       For information about scheduling queued employees, see "View and edit previously sent Open Shift broadcasts" below.

     • First Come First Serve - Automatically fills open shifts with employees in the order of their responses
   • Broadcast Date and Broadcast Time - To broadcast immediately, leave these fields blank. Otherwise, enter the date and time that you want to send the broadcast message.
   • Activity, Start Date, Start Time, Hours, and Lunch Length - When you enter the activity code, these other fields are automatically updated. If needed, you can override the information.
   • Shift Count - This is the number of available shifts that you are trying to fill. The initial value in this field is based on the understaffing value for the profile.
   • Response End Date and Response End Time (only with the Queue Notification Type) - Displays the default amount of time prior to the start of the shift to stop accepting responses. If needed, you can override these values.

     Tip: You can also schedule employees from the queue before the end of the response period. If all shifts are scheduled before the end of the response period, the response period automatically closes.

   • Comment - If needed, enter a comment that the receiving employees will see in the broadcasted message.
   • Employee list - Review the names and notification options, and select the employees you want to broadcast the open shifts to.

     You can only select employees who have a phone or email notification method set up.

8. Click Submit.

   Depending on how your organization has decided to handle schedule validation, you may or may not receive schedule validation alerts. If schedule validation (which uses the manual edit validation style) is enabled and there are validation issues, you can override the issues. As needed, select the ones you want to Override and click OK.

   The open shifts are broadcast to the employees you selected. The Broadcast Shift dialog closes and the broadcast icon appears on the corresponding profile row. For more information about this icon, see "View and edit previously sent Open Shift broadcasts" below.

   You can also view details of previous broadcasts on the Broadcast Summary.

View and edit previously sent Open Shift broadcasts

You can view the details of a previously sent broadcast and, if needed, make changes, such as adding employees, removing employees, and deleting a broadcast.

Note: You can only view and edit open broadcasts for future shifts. Broadcasts that are closed or were for shifts occurring in the past do not have the broadcast icon and cannot be edited.

To view and edit a broadcast, complete the following steps.

1. Expand the appropriate profile group with the broadcast you want to view.
2. On a profile row, click the broadcast icon.

   The Broadcast Shift dialog box appears.

   Most of the details are read only. Near the bottom are two tabs: Notified and Qualified.

   • The Notified tab shows the list of employees who the broadcast was sent to. Here you can remove employees from the broadcast or schedule queued employees.
   • The Qualified tab shows a list of employees who were not included in the broadcast but are qualified to work the shift. Here you can add employees to the broadcast or schedule qualified staff.
3. To remove an employee from an Open Shift broadcast:
   1. Click the Notified tab.
   2. Select the employees you want to remove from the broadcast.

      You can select employees with open statuses, such as Queued or Awaiting Response.

      Employees who have already been scheduled through the broadcast (with statuses such as Scheduled or Claimed) cannot be selected. They keep their schedules.

   3. Click Remove Employee.
4. To schedule an employee from a Queue type of broadcast:
   1. Click the Notified tab.
   2. To make it easier to see only the employees you can schedule, click the Show only Queued Responses option.

      Note: Scheduling employees is only done with the Queue type of broadcast since the First Come First Serve type of broadcast allows employees to schedule shifts directly via their responses.

   3. Select the employees with a status of Queued who you want to schedule.
   4. Click Schedule.
5. To add additional employees to a broadcast:
   1. Click the Qualified tab.
   2. Select the employees you want to add to the Open Shift broadcast.
   3. Click Add Employee.

      The open shifts are broadcast to the employees you selected.

6. To delete the broadcast, click Delete.

   Employees with open statuses, such as Queued or Awaiting Response, can no longer respond to the broadcast or be scheduled a shift sent in the broadcast.

   Employees who have already been scheduled through the broadcast (with statuses such as Scheduled or Claimed) keep their scheduled shifts. Their schedules are not deleted.

View Open Shift Notification reports

There are several reports that supply information about Open Shift Notification.

• Employees Configured for Open Shift Notification

  This report shows the employees that have added preferences for Open Shift Notifications, as well as a graph with the number of employees set up and not set up.

• Open Shift Broadcast Summary

  This report shows a trend of the number of broadcasts (open shift notifications) that were sent for an organization unit during a specified date range, and the percentage that were filled, unfilled, or canceled.

• Open Shift Notifications Sent

  This report shows a summary of all the broadcasts (open shift notifications) that were sent during the specified date range.