Upcoming micro-event organized by the Healthcare Operational Research (HCOR) special interest group
This (virtual) event is organized by the Canadian Operational Research Society (CORS) Healthcare Operational Research (HCOR) special interest group. Hummy Song from Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania will present the following seminar on Thursday, April 25th, 2024 at 12-1PM EST. This is a free event but registration is required. You can register at: https://forms.gle/YvPJomNYrhfzsPYT6
Title: Redesigning Shift Work to Incorporate Heterogeneous Worker Preferences
Abstract: Shifts are the dominant way to organize work in many contexts requiring 24/7 coverage. While the detriments of shift work are well-documented both at the individual and organizational levels its deployment is often unavoidable given round-the-clock staffing needs. We explore a potential operational lever-incorporating heterogeneous preferences over shift characteristics which we refer to as the shift choice system-to mitigate ramifications of shift work on worker well-being and turnover. Leveraging rich and novel survey shift and administrative data we document that acute care nurses exhibit heterogeneous preferences over shift schedules driven by both pecuniary and non-pecuniary considerations. We also show that nursing managers largely reflect preferences into scheduled shifts albeit imperfectly. We find that the shift choice system improves worker well-being as measured by self-reported fatigue and work-life balance. Using a difference-in-differences approach we estimate a 0.58 p.p. decrease in probability of quitting but only among more experienced nurses. We find these effects are not driven by differences in the degree to which preferences are reflected in scheduled shifts but rather by corresponding improvements in fatigue and work-life balance concentrated among more experienced nurses. We do not find evidence to suggest that the shift choice system affects care quality. Our results indicate that allowing for shift choice is an effective responsible scheduling strategy that can improve worker well-being and reduce turnover for highly experienced nurses. Joint work with: H. Harriet Jeon Song-Hee Kim Kyeongsug Kim Sangwoon Cho and Jeong Hee Hong
For additional details please see attached.
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Vahid Sarhangian
Assistant Professor
University of Toronto
Toronto ON
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