Guidelines for Computing OR Staffing Requirements
FORMULAS
Step 1. Number of rooms multiplied by number of hours per day multiplied by number of days per week = total hours to be staffed per week.
Step 2. Total hours to be staffed per week multiplied by number of people per room = total working hours per week.
Step 3. Total working hours per week divided by 40 hours = basic FTE.
Step 4. Calculate benefit relief.
Step 5. Basic FTE multiplied by benefit hours/FTE/year divided by 2,080 hours = relief FTE.
Step 6 Basic FTE added to relief FTE = total minimum direct care staff.
Note 1: To determine the number of personnel per room:
1. If half the procedures done in your OR require a third person, you will need to use a figure of 2.5 persons per room in computing your staffing needs.
2. If more or less than half of the procedures done in your OR require a third person, or if a percentage of procedures require a fourth person, the number of personnel per room will need to be adjusted accordingly.
3. In the example used in the story on p. 129, a figure of 2.5 persons per room is used.
Note 2: If your institution’s FTE is greater or less than 2,080 hours per year, this must be adjusted in the formula.
DIRECT CARE STAFF
- Personnel involved with "hands on" care of the surgical client. In the operating room, these staff include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and surgical technicians.
- The staffing policy for the operating room should state the minimum number of nursing personnel that will be provided for different types of surgical procedures. Complexity of the procedure may necessitate more than the minimum number of nursing personnel identified.
INDIRECT CARE STAFF
- Personnel who support the activities of the operating room. In the operating room, this includes the supervisor, the head nurse, the charge nurse, the staff development instructor, ward clerks, secretaries, unit manager, aides, orderlies, and housekeeping personnel, if on your budget.
- Supervisory and educational personnel will vary according to workload.
- Indirect care staff will vary according to functions, but a rule of thumb is one indirect care giver to two direct caregivers.
BENEFIT HOURS
- Benefit hours are those hours such as vacation time, holiday time, available sick time (whether paid or unpaid), and any other time that personnel policies determine an employee might take off.
- In the operating room, benefit hours also include breaks and lunches unless the operating room ceases work production during those times.
- When relieving for lunch, it is necessary to add about 15 minutes to the allotted time at either end to allow for nurse-to-nurse report as to what has transpired during the procedure in progress. It may take less than seven minutes for one circulating nurse to report to her relief, but the relief of the scrubbed person must include the time needed to scrub, gown, and glove, so 15 minutes is average.
- When computing benefit relief for breaks and lunches, the number of minutes is multiplied by 260 days (52 weeks multiplied by 5 days per week = 260 days).
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content