COVID Staffing Toolkit—A Guide
A step-by-step overview of one approach, based on our institutions’ experience, to staffing response planning for COVID-19. Links to available tools and examples are also included.
This guide is divided into three analysis & planning stages which, in combination, can help you develop and implement a complete response plan:
We will regularly update this page. If you have suggestions or resources from your organizations that could benefit others, please let us know so we can share.
1. Assess Current Resources
How many beds do you have?
- Quantify numbers and locations of general inpatient and ICU beds
- What is currently available?
- What new ICU-level units can be created?
- What new non-ICU level units can be created?
What skills do your staff have?
- Determine where your staff can serve the overall COVID-19 response based on their experience, training, and availability
- Survey your faculty physicians: Physician skill survey
- Determine COVID-related roles your faculty physicians are able to fill: Physician Pandemic Role Allocation Tool (P-PRAT)
- Determine COVID-related roles your residents and fellows are able to fill:
Trainee Pandemic Role Allocation Tool (T-PRAT)
What supplies do you have?
- Inventory available supplies
- How much PPE, ventilatorss, CRRT and dialysis machines do you have?
- Can ventilators or other supplies be repurposed from operating rooms, children’s hospitals, etc.?
2. Estimate Future Needs
How many patients are you expecting?
- Estimate your projected patient census:
What staff will you need?
- Define the potential compositions of teams for each unit (general inpatient, ICU)
- Define ideal and stretch levels of care team models
(See example team compositions in model tables below)
- Define ideal and stretch levels of care team models
- Estimate the number of staff needed in each role based on current and projected COVID-19 patient census:
- Identify areas of anticipated staff shortages by comparing available staff (calculated using Pandemic Role Allocation Tools) with projected needs
What supplies will you need?
- Project need for PPE, Ventilators, CRRT, and dialysis machines based on anticipated patient census
3. Plan Your Response
How will your staff be deployed?
- Assign staff to teams, and assign teams to locations, based on census
- Response Planner – Can be used to create a schedule for space and staff for each phase of your tiered response
- EXAMPLE: ICU Buildout Schedule Template
How can you expand your capacity?
- Up-train clinical staff
- Redeploy clinical staff to new roles based on current skill level (assessed in Pandemic Role Allocation Tools)
- EXAMPLE: Model Table for Redeployment
This guide was created by Hoda Bandeh-Ahmadi PhD, Laura Mazer MD MHPE, Alexandra Highet, Kyla Terhune MD MBA, Brian C George MD MA.