As Nursegrid nears its one-millionth download, we have more department managers and CNOs writing in daily, asking why their staff are using our app. Some are even more perplexed when their facility already offers an online scheduling solution. The answer, in fact, is at the center of why Nursegrid was founded.
Over five years ago, Joe reached out to me to ask if I was interested in building technology solutions for nurses. We are both nurses, and, like him, I was fed up with the existing technology in hospitals. It was clunky and confusing, but – more importantly – it felt like it had been created without any insight from nurses on the floor. We designed Nursegrid Mobile to cut straight to the chase, offering features that nurses around the country told us they wanted while keeping the tools simple and clean.
Here are a few of the features that nurses told us they wanted:
- See who you work with: Waiting until a shift begins to find out who is working is not a solution, nor is checking the master schedule and jotting the working staff down on paper. In the Nursegrid app, we’ve made it so users just have to click on a shift to see everyone who is scheduled to work.
- Share a schedule with others: Whether it’s with co-workers, friends, or parents, sharing a nurse schedule can be a massive headache, usually involving text messages with a long string of dates. Nursegrid syncs with all major mobile calendars and also has a shareable web link. When users connect via the app, they just have to click on a profile to see a co-worker’s entire schedule.
- An easy way to swap shifts: Previously, finding someone to swap shifts was a big challenge. Executing that swap was a whole other issue, usually one involving paper, signatures, and a manager’s physical mailbox. In Nursegrid, swapping a shift only requires a few taps: first to find someone and then to agree to the swap. Users in managed accounts (departments/facilities which are paying for Nursegrid Manager) can also submit those swaps and hear back—all through the same mobile app.
- Enter a schedule in less than a minute: Existing mobile calendars just weren’t cutting it for nurses. It took way too long to enter shifts one-by-one. With Nursegrid, it literally takes seconds. Even better, for nurses in managed departments, the schedule automatically populates within their favorite nurse app.
It’s not rocket science. At Nursegrid, we are laser-focused on creating technology that nurses and nursing department staff love. We’ve done it by incorporating thousands of feedback comments, earning us an average 5-star review from our nearly 1 million large user base. Nursegrid was born out of the frustration we felt (as nurses ourselves) when technology didn’t address the needs that we, and our colleagues, were surfacing.
There are thousands of departments around the country that have 15 or more connected Nursegrid users, all who downloaded the app on their own accord. These users represent a growing coalition of frustrated nurses and staff around the country who feel like their current scheduling technology (or lack thereof) is not satisfying their specific needs. So, when CNOs find out that they have over 1,000 nurses and staff using the Nursegrid app in their facility and wonder why, the answer is at the core of who Nursegrid is as a company. It’s about nurses; we just listened.
If you would like to connect your department or facility with your network of Nursegrid Mobile users, chat with us about Nursegrid Manager and bring your scheduling needs into the 21st century!
