How to Enter Staffing Requirements for Your Shift Schedules

Posted by Brandy on March 9, 2011

Do you need a specific amount and type of employee scheduled for each shift? Are your staffing requirements based on external variables, such as a number of units, patients, or packages? If so, you can easily enter staffing requirements into Visual Staff Scheduler (VSS) employee scheduling software, so you’ll be able to see if you are over-scheduled or under-scheduled.

What Is A Requirement Row?

The first step to ensure shift coverage is to set up a Requirement Row. The Requirement Row in VSS is similar to a Divider except that a Requirement Row has a number in it. Most companies will have a Requirement Row for each group of employees they need to schedule. For example, a hospital’s shift schedule will group the RN’s together and the LPN’s together and so forth. You’ll need to enter the number of staff needed per shift. To continue with the nursing example, you could enter the acuity, i.e. the number of nurses that are needed to work based upon the number of patients, in the Requirement Row.

Where Are Requirement Rows?

To insert a Requirement Row, simply use your mouse to click on a date cell in the schedule. In the Edit menu, choose Insert and then Requirement. You’ll be able to enter a title and define attributes, such as color and appearance on reports. When you are finished making selections, click on the OK button.

You’ll notice the new Requirement Row has been added to the schedule with only a title. Next, you’ll need to enter a number for each day, or cell. Enter a number to indicate your staffing requirement for that shift. The Requirement Rows directly correspond with the Coverage Totals at the bottom of the screen.