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.
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).
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.
You will receive a notification whenever an event occurs for a shift that you broadcasted.
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.
A list of employees who are qualified to work appears in the list.
For more information about the employee list, see Qualified Staff tab.
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.
When done comparing, close the Compare Staff dialog box.
For information about scheduling queued employees, see "View and edit previously sent Open Shift broadcasts" below.
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.
You can only select employees who have a phone or email notification method set up.
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.
The Broadcast Shift dialog box appears.
Most of the details are read only. Near the bottom are two tabs: Notified and Qualified.
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.
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.
The open shifts are broadcast to the employees you selected.
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.
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.
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.
This report shows a summary of all the broadcasts (open shift notifications) that were sent during the specified date range.