The Development of a Microcomputer-Based Nurse Management System.

The Nurse Management System is an automated scheduling and staffing system designed to run on an IBM personal computer. The system generates four- or six-week schedules for several classifications of nursing staff. Daily rosters and staffing variance analysis reports are also generated based on manually entered census and acuity data. The system was written in a user-friendly language which enables nursing staff to make custom modifications. Custom ad hoc reports can also be generated using special features such as the automated report writer. The system has been in operation for approximately 20 months and currently schedules over 1,500 nursing staff. The developmental and operational costs of the system are favorable due to the fact that the system is microcomputer-based and is totally under the nursing department's control.