2.
Staffing
a. The staff is adequate to meet the workload in
3 shifts ( Use computation guide/tool)
b. Staffing is balanced in terms of knowledge and
skills .
c. A senior nurse is assigned as in charge per shift
d. A contingency plan is in place for emergency and
sick leaves of staff
 According to the computation (in a
separate page), there is
inadequate staff in the Medical
ward because they only have 3
staff nurses each for the 7-3 and
the 3-11 shift and only 1 nurse in
the night shift which there should
be four based from the
computation. However, even if
there are inadequate staffing in the
ward, there are also nursing aids
wherein they can also help the staff
nurses in doing their jobs.
 Based from the observation done,
there is an imbalance in staffing in
terms of their knowledge and skill.
There are time, wherein there are
three nurses in the ward, one was
a trainee and the other two were
staff nurses. In terms of skills, the
two senior staff nurse are far more
skilled and knowledgeable than
the trainee.
 As observed, a senior nurse is in
charge per shift in the medical
ward who also supervises and
guides the trainee or junior staff
nurses.
 Based from the observation and
interview done, there is a lack of a
contingency plan in terms of
emergency and if the staff was
unable to report for duty. Like for
instance, when a staff nurse was
unable to come and report for the
duty, they would pull-out one staff
from another unit. Some staff
nurses even had to work in double
wards just to compensate for
those who are absent. They also
have an extra staff called as
“floaters”, wherein those staff
help those who are assigned in the
ICU, to lessen the workload so
 they could give their optimum
care. These floaters also roam
around and see if a ward needs
help. If a ward needs help, they
would stay and act as a floater
until the ward can function freely
again. This kind of plan is called a
supplementary plan wherein
supervisors utilized this so they
can do borrow method, floating
staff method and on-call staff
method to somehow help relieve
the toxicity in each ward.
Staffing refers to the number and mixture of personnel assistance assigned to work in nursing units at a
given time. The goal is to provide an adequate number and mixture of personnel to give the outmost
care to the patients in nursing units at a given time.

Computation:

Patient Category Morning Shift

1. Completely dependent 3.27 x 2 = 7 hrs
2. Partially Dependent 1.62 x 6= 10 hrs
3. Ambulatory Patient 1.2 x 14= 17 hrs
Total Hours 34 hrs
Nurses Per Shift 34 x 8 /61.94 = 4 staff nurses

Patient category Daily average Average daily Calculated time Total Hours
time or patient in census
24 hours
Completely 7.24 2 7.24 x 2 14.48
dependent
Partially 3.08 6 3.08 x 6 18.48
Dependent
Ambulatory 2.07 14 2.07 x 14 28.98
Patient
Totals 22 61.94

Total nurses needed

61.94/8= 8 nurses for three shift

Conclusion:

In staffing and scheduling, ANA supports a legislative model in which nurses are
empowered to make staffing plans specific to each unit. This allows hospitals to establish
staffing levels that are flexible and account for changes including the intensity of patients’
needs, the number of admissions, discharges, and transfers during the shift, level of experience
of nursing staff, layout of the unit and availability of resources, such as ancillary staff and
technology. Also, if staffing levels were not meet accordingly, mortality increases. Therefore,
staffing should be address accordingly because this where we put infection rates, medication
errors and potential drug reactions at a minimum. However, the most common problem in the
ward since the nurse-patient ratio is not being followed is understaffing.