Social media in health care: benefits, concerns, and guidelines for use.

The use of social media and other electronic communication has exploded as the number of social media outlets and applications continue to increase. These are exciting and valuable tools when used wisely, but pose risks when inappropriately used. The purpose of this article is to consider what comprises social media, its benefits and concerns, and guidelines for use that protect patients, employees, and organizations.

Comparison of nurse staffing based on changes in unit-level workload associated with patient churn.

Aim: This analysis compares the staffing implications of three measures of nurse staffing requirements: midnight census, turnover adjustment based on length of stay, and volume of admissions, discharges and transfers.

Background: Midnight census is commonly used to determine registered nurse staffing. Unit-level workload increases with patient churn, the movement of patients in and out of the nursing unit.

Nursing operations automation and health care technology innovations: 2025 and beyond.

This article reviews why nursing operations automation is important, reviews the impact of computer technology on nursing from a historical perspective, and considers the future of nursing operations automation and health care technology innovations in 2025 and beyond. The increasing automation in health care organizations will benefit patient care, staffing and scheduling systems and central staffing offices, census control, and measurement of patient acuity.

Shared governance and the delivery of labor resources in a 24/7/365 world.

This article explores how shared governance and unit-based scheduling/staffing/ resource management (SSRM) committees can impact the delivery of labor resources 24/7/365 through knowledgeable workforce budgeting and employee scheduling and daily staffing best practices. Two case study examples are included.

Indirect care: the measure of how we support our staff.

This article explores the challenges of managing nursing labor resources in acute care hospital settings, with particular attention to indirect care support staff and to budgeting for the back-fill needed to cover labor hours on the unit when staff are absent for education programs and meetings. Because nursing is usually the largest portion of caregiver hours, appropriately supporting the work of nursing is critically important.