1. Workload

2. Workload training This training consists of:
An overview of the foundations of OptiLink Workload
A hands-on introduction to the program’s features

3. Scheduler and Kronos OptiLink
WFC
OptiLink Plus
Unit (location) census by acuity level
Workload Planning
Patient Classifications
Unit (location) schedule
Scheduling
Patient-Staff Assignments
WFC
Database
OptiLink
Database

4. Why OptiLink Workload? OptiLink provides a means for:
recording individual patient acuities
supporting equitable patient assignments
documenting regulatory compliance

5. Recording patient acuities
OptiLink’s patient acuity system is a professional judgment model.
Rationale criteria are established by the hospital, and are unit-specific.
Most units will classify patients as one of four acuities:
The majority of patients on a unit should fall into the average-acuity range.

6. What is an “average” patient?
Medical Unit
Surgical Unit
Telemetry
Emergency
ICU

7. Increased resource needs – “High” patients
Medical Unit
Surgical Unit
Telemetry
Emergency
ICU

8. Decreased resource needs – “Low” patients
Medical Unit
Surgical Unit
Telemetry
Emergency
ICU

9. Increased resource needs – “Extreme” patients
Medical Unit
Surgical Unit
Telemetry
Emergency
ICU

10. Recording patient acuities
Acuities will vary from one shift to another, but over time a normal distribution of acuities should be seen:
Low
16 %
Average
66 %
High
16 %
Extreme
2 %

11. Why OptiLink Workload? OptiLink provides a means for:
recording individual patient acuities
supporting equitable patient assignments
documenting regulatory compliance

12. Supporting equitable assignments
Each acuity level has an associated numeric value, which can be used to calculate true workload and balance assignments.
This acuity information can be used to help you:
balance assignments with current staff, and/or
align resources to acuity-adjusted patient demand
5 patients x 1 = 5
6 patients x .83 ≈ 5
4 patients x 1.25 = 5

13. Balancing assignments with current staff

14. Balancing assignments with current staff

15. Aligning resources to acuity-adjusted demand
Census Range
05-RN
15-NA
20-US
1 – 10 2
11 – 15 3 1
16 – 18
18 – 20
20 – 22 4
Acuity
Adjusted
Census
Acuity
Index
Actual
Census x =
1.07 x 15 = 16

16. Why OptiLink Workload? OptiLink provides a means for:
recording individual patient acuities
supporting equitable patient assignments
documenting regulatory compliance
OptiLink allows you to record and report data that may be subject to regulatory audit, such as:
Patient-to-staff ratios and assignments
Patient acuities
Events

17. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports

18. Logging into the training database

19. Logging into the training database
The Home page
Logging into the training database

20. The Home page
The Workload: Patient/Staff Grid View

21. The Workload: Patient/Staff Grid View

22. The Workload: Patient/Staff Grid View

23. On-line Help
Use on-line Help to learn how to use the Workload features and to keep current on new upgrades.

27. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports

28. Scenario
Paul Taylor (Room 402) is ready to go home; he is just waiting for his discharge orders. Classify Mr. Taylor as a Low-acuity patient.

30. Let me: Do this
Let me: Record an acuity of Low for Karl Johansson (Room 409).

32. Classifying multiple patients
If multiple patients have the same acuity, you can classify them all at the same time.
Use the Ctrl-key on your keyboard to select multiple patients.
Click on the first cell without holding down the Ctrl-key.
Then hold down the Ctrl-key to select additional patients.

36. Let me: Classify multiple patients
Let me: Patel Uday (Room 408) and Isabelle Hernandez (Room 415) are both being monitored for seizures. Classify both patients as High.

38. Let me: Classify patients
Classify Carlotta Strong (Room 420) as Extreme (physiologically / psychologically unstable).
Change the acuity for all unclassified patients to Average.

40. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports

41. A note about notes
There are two types of notes: (1) patient-specific and (2) general.
Notes are saved with your log-in ID and a date and time entry stamp.
Notes cannot be edited or deleted. If you make a mistake on a note, make a corrective entry.
Notes are discoverable.

42. Guide Me: Recording patient-specific notes
Guide me: Make a note that Carlotta Strong (420) required a sitter; you used Cole Hawkins, NA.
Right-clicking on certain areas of the screen brings up contextual menus with additional options.

46. Let me: Record notes
Let me: Make the following notes, as appropriate:
One NA stayed an extra 4 hours to help the Unit Manager finish a special project.
Patrick Quinn (Room 407) keeps trying to sneak cigarettes.

48. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports

49. Logging patient events
The events list can be customized for your unit.
This feature generally does NOT replace the incident reports required by your hospital policy.
Events can be configured to require supporting notes (but most are not).
Notes entered when events are logged, as well as any documents referred to in such notes, are discoverable.

51. Let me: Record an event
Let me: A scheduled procedure for May Romano (Room 416) was delayed because she was ordered to be NPO, but ate breakfast. Log this patient event.

53. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports
Adding
Viewing
Deleting
Transferring

55. Let me: Record an assignment
Let me: Record an assignment between Calvin Earhart (RN) and Uday Patel (Room 408).

57. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports
Adding
Viewing
Deleting
Transferring

59. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports
Adding
Viewing
Deleting
Transferring

61. Let me: Delete an assignment
Let me: Delete the assignment between Julian Parrish (RN) and Bernard Sullivan (Room 406).

63. Let me: Record multiple assignments
Let me: Assign Julian Parrish (RN) to the following patients:
Barnett, Paula (Room 404)
Yazdie, Sima (Room 405)
Quinn, Patrick (Room 407)
Uday, Patel (Room 408)
Johansson, Karl (Room 409)

66. Let me: Record assignments
Let me: Finish recording the licensed assignments, as follows:
Maria Perez (RN) – 411, 412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 417
Pat Reynolds (RN) – 418, 419, 420

68. Recording assignments
“Your” unit (Med/Surg North) also assigns its nursing assistants to patients. The workload calculations for this unit are based on shared RN and NA assignments.

70. Let me: Record NA assignments
Let me: Finish recording the NA assignments, as follows:
Tobias Paynter: 409 – 419
Cole Hawkins: 420

72. Let me: Pre-assign staff members
Let me: When Colin Snyder (NA) comes in, he will take over Tobias Paynter’s patients. Record these assignments now.

74. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports
Adding
Viewing
Deleting
(again)
Transferring

76. Let me: Delete an assignment
Let me: Delete the assignment between Patrick Quinn (Room 407) and his nurse. (Do not delete the assignment with his NA.)

78. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports
Adding
Viewing (again)
Deleting
Transferring

79. Additional views (screens)
The Patient/Staff Grid screen is a real-time view. You can double-click to see current assignments.
Other views display information for the entire shift, and show assignments in list format.

82. About Assignments
OptiLink will start assignments as soon as possible and maintain assignments as long as possible.
OptiLink will adjust the assignment times to match the patient’s stay:
The assignment will start when the patient is admitted to the unit.
The assignment will end when the patient is discharged / transferred.

83. About Assignments
OptiLink will start assignments as soon as possible and maintain assignments as long as possible.
OptiLink will adjust the assignment times to match the patient’s stay:
The assignment will start when the patient is admitted to the unit.
The assignment will end when the patient is discharged / transferred.
OptiLink will automatically end assignments when the staff member’s scheduled shift ends.

86. Let me: Record an assignment
Let me: On the Patient List view, record that Patrick Quinn was assigned to Earhart, Calvin.

88. Transferring Assignments
Sometimes you need to transfer an assignment from one nurse to another, when both nurses are still on the unit.
10:45
07:00
19:30

89. Transferring assignments
Transferring assignments is a two-step process:
End the assignment with the first staff member at the appropriate time.
Begin the assignment with the second staff member at the appropriate time.

93. Let me: Transfer an assignment
Let me: Transfer David Cohen (Room 418) from Pat Reynolds to Maria Perez at 11:30:
End Mr. Cohen’s assignment with Pat Reynolds at 11:30.
Assign Maria Perez to Mr. Cohen, starting at 11:30.

95. Tasks
A unit can display tasks that recur every shift and that can be assigned to a staff member (or staff members).
Task assignments can be viewed on the Patient / Staff Grid, on the Staff List view, and on the Staff Assignments report

97. Let me: Assign a task
Let me: Assign the “Narcotics Check” task to Pat Reynolds.

99. The multi-unit workload screen
If two units share staff or space, they can be configured to display on one screen.
Assignments and acuities are recorded the same way on a multi-unit workload screen as they are on a single-unit workload screen.

103. Let me: Classify / assign patients
Classify Temple, Peter (Room 427) as Low.
Assign Mr. Temple to Abernathy, Kate (RN).

105. More about the multi-unit workload screen
If you classify a patient as High or Extreme, the classification guidelines that display are the guidelines for the unit associated with the patient’s bed.
Workload shading is based on the assigned patients that display on the screen.
You cannot project census on the Multi-unit Workload screen.

107. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports

109. The Staffing Forecast screen
The Staffing Forecast screen provides information on staffing targets, based on the projected census.
If you make staffing decisions for the oncoming shift, the Staffing Forecast screen can give you in-the-moment data to help you decide if you need to staff up or staff down.
Show Me
We’ll take a look at the Staffing Forecast screen. (You can just watch, or follow along.)

112. Break coverage
You can record break coverage for staff members, if all of that staff member’s patients are being assigned to a single nurse.

114. Let me: Classify / assign patients
Record that Julian Parrish’s patients were taken care of by Pat Reynolds when he went on break at 12:00.

116. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports

117. Reconciling data for the shift
At the end of the shift, verify that all of the patient acuities and assignments are entered and accurate.
Remember, the Patient/Staff Grid page displays only those patients currently on the floor.
Where can you record acuities and assignments for discharged patients?

119. Let me: Classify a discharged patient
Let me: Record an acuity of Low for Roy Overstreet.

121. Looking ahead
You can navigate to the next shift to see who’s scheduled to work.
If appropriate, you can enter acuities and/or assignments for the oncoming shift.

123. Show me: Classifying/assigning the next shift
Classify patients and assign staff members for the oncoming shift.

125. Acuity alerts
Acuity alerts can be set to display after a certain period of time, or by shift.
Most units have patient acuities default to “Not Set” for each shift.
Some units have patient acuities rollover from shift to shift.
If patient acuities rollover to the next shift, nurses must still evaluate the acuities each shift!
Show Me
We’ll look at a unit that rolls over the patient acuities.

127. Course overview Access the screens Record patient acuities Add/view
notes
Log
patient
events
Record
assignments
Project census
Reconcile data
View/print reports

129. Staff Assignments Report Parameters
First report and parameters show what students just saw on their screen.
Second report and parameters: starting at 15:00, showing assignment times
Third report: All Med/Surg cluster – MSN and then MSS

130. Sample reports: Patient Assignments Report

131. Sample reports: Unit Rationale Guidelines

132. Sample reports: Shift Notes Report

133. Questions? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?