Case Study

From Chaos to Confidence: Why Getting Scheduling Right Changes Everything

‍Scheduling is the center of the universe—forsafety, staff experience, and the budget.


The Problem

  • Short-term cycles (4-week postings) keep teams in perpetual crisis.
  • Agency and overtime spiral; schedulers burn out filling “today” shifts.
  • Staff can’t see predictability; administrators can’t see 8–12 weeks ahead.
  • Culture gets entrenched: “This is just how scheduling is.”

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What's at Stake

Resident safety, staff well-being, and the budget are all downstream of scheduling.

“When a manager finally sees a fully staffed 12-week horizon—there are tears.”

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The Shift

Lead with transparency — share agency spend, OT, fill rates, hours per resident day coverage, and forward roster forecasts across teams.

Move to long-range rosters — design a 365-day rotation with the right FT/PT mix and a real relief strategy.

Enable with the right tools — use software to plan weeks ahead, manage the day-to-day, and report clearly. (Tech enables practice—it isn’t the practice.)

What Good Looks Like

  • 8–12 + weeks of visible staffing coverage
  • Predictable rotations & rest periods
  • Earlier fill of relief shifts (less last-minute dialing)
  • Material drop in agency and overtime
  • Measurably happier schedulers and frontline staff

Results We See Repeatedly

  • Agency reduced by [x–y %] within [z] weeks
  • Overtime reduced [x–y %]
  • Last-minute calls down [x %]; earlier fills up [x %]
  • FT mix trending toward ≈ 70 % where feasible

    • What Good Looks Like

    1. Assess: Identify what to Keep / Tweak / Leap.
    2. Design: Build the 365-day roster + relief strategy; align with labor language.
    3. Turn it on: Go live with tools + transparent metrics; review weekly for 4–6 weeks.

    Meet the Expert

    Jillian Schwieger — Former Nurse & LTC Leader, Scheduling Expert