Weekend Staffing in Acute Care Hospital Settings

[Guest guest]

In light of the current professional staff shortages (PT, OT, and

SLP) in North Texas, how are other facilities handling weekend

staffing in acute care hospital settings? We currently do not have

adequate professional staff to cover weekends by rotating our prn and

FT staff. Contract agencies have not consistently been able to fill

in the gaps either.

Options seem to include:

1. Forcing current staff to work long hours in addition to their FT

weekday schedules which would likely result in resignations thus

compounding the current problem.

2. Prioritising the weekend list and simply do not see certain types

of patients. How do you determine who or who does not get seen?

3. Discontinue weekend therapy servcies entirely. I do not beleive

this is an option for various reasons including Joint Comissions

requirement of " same care " weekday vs. weekend.

Any advice will be appreciated!

Jon Mark Pleasant, PT

Manager: Physical Medicine Department

Regional Medical Center