SAQ 462 – Administration – ED sick leave data and roster impact
Model Answer
Administration – ED sick leave data and roster impact.
a. Useful information
- Sick leave by day of week, weekend, day/evening/night shift and season.
- Sick leave by individual pattern, including single prolonged absences.
- Comparison with previous ED years and comparable emergency departments.
- Previous strategies attempted locally and their effect.
- Staff turnover, unfilled EFT and staff satisfaction/morale data.
b. Factors increasing sick leave
- Poor morale.
- Roster design, including supervision, flexibility, ease of swaps, antisocial shifts and sleep disruption.
- Stressors such as workload, violence, KPI pressure and inadequate support.
- Leave arrangements, childcare access and personal flexibility.
- Health factors such as vaccination uptake, infection control, smoking, drug/alcohol use and fitness.
c. Reducing impact
- Maintain an internal on-call or backup roster.
- Use locum or casual staff pools.
- Roster additional baseline staffing where feasible.
- Use alternative staff models such as nurse practitioners or non-ED medical staff for defined roles.
- Clear notification policies, call-back systems and group messaging to fill shifts early.
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